


Kantoronpa

by Cad48



Series: Kantoronpa [1]
Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Main Video Game Series), Pocket Monsters: Red & Green & Blue & Yellow | Pokemon Red Green Blue Yellow Versions
Genre: Fan Killing Game (Dangan Ronpa), Multi, typical killing game violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-14
Updated: 2021-02-03
Packaged: 2021-03-03 00:02:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 26
Words: 53,473
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24175543
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cad48/pseuds/Cad48
Summary: Sixteen of Kanto's most prolific Trainers are thrown into a killing game in an empty Saffron City. Who will live? Who will die? And what's the deal with this Mr. Mime? Follow Blue as he attempts to find the answers to these questions and more.
Series: Kantoronpa [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2145561
Comments: 36
Kudos: 66





	1. Prologue

Blue awoke in a room he didn’t recognize. He was slumped over a desk with a nameplate on it in what looked to be an important-looking office.  
“What the…?” he wondered. “Where am I?” The former Champion racked his brain for what happened last.  
“That’s right, I was… about to head to the Pokemon World Tournament, in Unova. With everyone else… How’d I end up here?” His hand instinctively went to his belt, where there was a noticeable lack of something.  
“My Pokémon!” Blue shouted, unknowingly. He composed himself, annoyed. “Where are they?”  
The boy picked himself up and surveyed his surroundings. He appeared to be in an important office, as the desk and general decor indicated. The nameplate…  
“That’s the name of Silph’s CEO!”  
Did that mean he was inside the Silph headquarters in Saffron? He stared out the window.  
“Yep, that’s definitely Saffron City.” The yellow buildings of the city were just like Blue remembered. However, the whole place seemed… strangely empty. To top it all off, surrounding the city was a barrier that resembled that of a Mr. Mime.  
“What the fuck…?” Blue decided to make his way down the building. He left the CEO’s office and made his way to the elevator. He pushed the button to go down and waited a second. The elevator dinged, and the doors swung open, revealing…  
“Brock?” Blue asked.  
“Blue?” Brock asked, before grabbing Blue. “It is you! Oh, my word! Did you wake up here?”  
“What’s going on?” Blue asked.  
“Nobody knows,” Brock said. “Well, by ‘nobody’ I mean myself, Misty, and Blaine. We woke up down in the streets, and were trying to look for others.”  
Blue craned his neck to look out the window. “Misty and Blaine are here too?”  
“Yeah, and none of us have our Pokemon.”  
“Neither do I…” Blue grumbled.  
Brock hit the elevator button, and the pair were descending to the city streets.  
“We agreed to meet up at the Pokémon Center when we were all done hunting for people, despite the fact that it’s locked.”  
“It’s locked?” Blue shook his head. This was just getting stranger and stranger…  
The elevator dinged open. Brock and Blue exited the lobby.  
Saffron was just as Blue remembered, without all the people.  
“Well, I’ll meet you outside the Center!” Brock waved, going off to look for more people. The closest notable place to him was the house of that Psychic guy… Blue headed there, taking in the sights and sounds. Well, there weren’t many sounds; the whole place was quiet. No voices, no Pokemon, not even the Magnet Train! This was really strange… Blue wondered how many people were here.

Blue stopped when he reached Mr. Psychic’s house. Inside… was a voice, seemingly yelling at someone else. Blue opened the door to find Agatha, fiercely yelling at Red.  
“You need to learn to respect your betters, _boy_. Speak! I know you can… The Copycat told me so!”  
Blue stepped forwards. “Hello, Agatha. I see you haven’t changed a bit.”  
Red’s face immediately went from upset to elated, as he rushed over to Blue, hugging him. Blue freed himself from Red’s grasp.  
“Hey, Red. Glad to see ya.”  
The pair’s reunion was interrupted by a harumph from Agatha. “Oh great, now the old coot’s grandson is here too.”  
“Shove it, granny.” Blue rebuked.  
This, unfortunately, only set Agatha off more. “How dare you?” She yelled. “The younger generation needs to learn some respect! I’m sure your grandfather would-” Agatha was cut off by Blue slamming the door in her face.

Blue and Red walked through the empty streets of Saffron together. “So, Red, remember anything?” Blue asked.  
Red shook his head no.  
“Yeah, me either, buddy. This whole situation is so weird… Hey, did you see anyone besides Agatha?”  
Also a no.  
“Huh. This whole situation is so weird… glad you’re here, though.”  
Red nodded and smiled.  
The two of them halted in their tracks when they heard voices from around the corner.  
“I’m telling you, boss, there’s no way out of here!” A male voice said.  
“Not even through the skies!” A female voice chimed in.  
“So there isn’t… interesting.” This voice chilled Blue to his core. He looked at Red, who wore a grim expression on his face. The pair continued to listen to the trio.  
“So, did you find anyone else?” The third voice asked.  
“Yes, actually!” The male voice said. “We ran into Lorelei! Of the Elite Four!”  
“And did she recognize you?”  
“No.”  
“Very good.”  
Blue was startled when Red rushed off around the corner with a shout. He followed his mute friend, and encountered… Giovanni. Of Team Rocket. There were two other goons in Rocket uniforms, one male with short purple hair and one female with ridiculous pink hair.  
Giovanni grinned. “So, you two are here, eh?”  
“What’s it to you?” Blue cut back.  
“Nothing,” Giovanni said.  
“Boss!” Whispered the female goon. “What do we do?”  
“Stand down, Jessie, James,” Giovanni ordered.  
Red gazed at Giovanni, angry.  
“Calm down, mute boy,” Giovanni said. “If I’m right, none of us have our Pokemon… We’re no threat to each other.”  
Red calmed down, still mutinous.  
“In fact…” Giovanni mused. “We may need to work together to get out of here.”  
“There’s no way we’d work with you!” Blue cut in.  
“Hey!” James said. “Show some respect to the boss!”  
“It’s fine, James, I understand their suspicion.” Giovanni waved a hand. “After all, we’re the natural suspects for this trap. However, I assure you, this was not our doing.”  
“And how can we trust you on that?”  
“You cannot,” Giovanni replied. “But I can promise you one thing. I am going to make it out of here, no matter who I have to sacrifice to do it. Come, Jessie, James.” And the trio of Rocketeers were off.  
Red grumbled to himself. Blue put a hand on his shoulder. “Listen, Red, none of us have our Pokemon. We can’t do much lasting damage to each other, anyway. Just ignore him.”  
Red looked at the receding figure of Giovanni, then at Blue.  
“Hey,” Blue suggested, “What if we check out the Poke Mart? It’s near here, and there’s sure to be people there, right?”  
Red nodded affirmative, and the pair was off.

They arrived in the Poke Mart to see three figures: three of the four Elite Four. Bruno, Lorelei, and Lance. They seemed to be having a debate about something. They looked up at the boys’ arrival, and a wide grin split Lance’s face.  
“Red, Blue! I’m glad to see you!”  
Lorelei grinned. “Well, there’s some more. With the two I saw earlier, plus Misty, that makes… nine?”  
Bruno bowed. “Red, Blue, it is nice to see you again.”  
Blue chuckled. “Aw, c’mon, don’t be so formal, Bruno!”  
Bruno stood up straight. “My apologies, you two.”  
Lance put a hand on Bruno’s shoulder. “Don’t mind this guy. He’s just a little… on edge. Well, we all are, but he’s taking it quite poorly.”  
A thought occurred to Bruno. “Hey, what if we get these two to settle our debate?”  
“What debate?” Blue asked.  
Lorelei spoke up. “We are debating on whether we should take the supplies from this Poke Mart or leave them. Bruno says to leave them because that’s stealing, Lance says take them because we might need them, and I have no vote because I believe we simply don’t know enough about what’s going on to make that decision.”  
“That’s pretty much the long and short of it, yes,” Lance said.  
Red and Blue pondered on this. “I’m in Lorelei’s camp, personally,” Blue said. “We should figure out if there’s truly no way out, first.”  
“A wise decision,” Bruno commented.  
“Aw, c’mon! I thought we were friends! Red?”  
Red nodded at Lance. “Well, at least he’s on my side…”  
“Anyway,” Lorelei said, “We’ve got this place covered. If you two are looking for clues, maybe try looking somewhere else.”  
“Will do!” Blue said. “By the way, Red and I ran into Agatha earlier.”  
“So she’s here as well… interesting.” Lance commented. “Well, see you two later!”  
“Seeya!” Blue waved, and he and Red were off.

“So, where do you wanna check next?” Blue asked.  
In response, Red pointed at a large building in the corner of the city.  
“The Magnet Train station? Good idea.”  
Blue and Red headed for the station, only to see three people crowded around the door: Blaine, Erika, and Lieutenant Surge.  
“I’m tellin ya,” Surge said, “I can’t unlock the door!”  
“This isn’t good…” Erika sighed. “Anything from you, Blaine?”  
“I tried earlier,” the Fire specialist replied, “Couldn’t do it.”  
“Hey, you three,” Blue asked, “what’s going on?”  
The trio of Gym Leaders turned to face Red and Blue.  
“Oh! Hello!” Erika smiled.  
“Now isn’t this a welcome sight!” Blaine exclaimed.  
“Yeah, yeah, hello or whatever,” Surge said. “Basically, we can’t get the door to the fuckin; train station opened. It’s locked. And painted so you can’t see through.”  
“Bizarre…” Blue mused. “Well, I’m glad to see all three of you!”  
“Likewise, my boy!” Blaine said. “And don’t worry, we’ll have this door figured out in no time! For now, maybe try checking the Fighting Dojo, or the Gym?” the old man suggested.  
“Oh, maybe Sabrina has a… warp tile!” Surge said.  
Erika woke up. “Oh, yes, uh… have fun…” she yawned.  
“Got it!” And Blue and Red left for the official and unofficial Gyms, leaving behind Blaine, Surge, and Erika.

Because it was closer, the pair decided to check out the Fighting Dojo first. They walked inside, to meet an angry Misty, being calmed by Koga.  
“Of course there’s nothing here! Why would there be? We’re trapped here! Why would there be any method of escaping? We don’t know who did it, why, or anything!”  
“Calm down, dear Misty,” Koga said. “We just need to keep a cool head.”  
“Cool head? COOL HEAD?!” At this point, Misty saw Red and Blue. “HOW CAN I KEEP A COOL HEAD WHEN ALL THREE RECENT CHAMPIONS ARE HERE?!”  
Koga turned and saw the pair. “Oh, hello. Don’t worry about us. I’ll calm down Misty. You two look elsewhere.”  
“CALM ME DOWN? CALM ME DOWN?!” Red backed away from the screaming Water specialist, and Blue decided that it would be best to do the same. “See you later, Koga”  
“Goodbye. Don’t let everyone here down.”  
Blue mused on that comment, before getting out of there to avoid the wrath of Misty.  
“One place left to check, right Red?”  
Red gazed at the Saffron Gym and nodded. The pair took deep breaths and stepped inside. The entrance room had a few things. It looked entirely normal, but the warp tiles were inactive, and there was a dark-haired woman staring at one, who looked up at the boys’ approach.  
“Hello.” Sabrina greeted.  
“Hi, Sabrina!” Blue waved.  
Red waved as well.  
Sabrina chuckled. “Well, you two are certainly in high spirits.”  
“We’re… kinda trying to stay optimistic, yeah. What’s the matter?”  
Sabrina clutched her forehead. “Something here… is dampening my psychic powers. Across the whole city.”  
Red looked at her concerned.  
Blue asked, “So, you don’t know anything?”  
“No, I do not,” Sabrina confirmed, “but-” Just then, they were interrupted by a voice chiming throughout the city.  
“Heeheehee! I see you are getting used to your new home! Well, all of you need to meet outside the Pokemon Center, stat! There, you’ll be given answers!”  
The three looked at each other.  
“We should go,” Blue said. “I don’t want to anger… whatever that is.”  
“Fair enough.” Sabrina sighed. Red said nothing, as usual, and all three headed for the Pokemon Center. There they saw the other thirteen participants.  
“So, what’s happening?” Jessie asked.  
“This had better not be a prank!” Surge said.  
Just then, a voice echoed from the roof of the Pokemon Center. “A prank this most certainly is not!” And then, on the roof, appeared… a Mr. Mime. This was no normal Mr. Mime, however; one half was black, and the other was white, the black half had an evil grin while the white half was happy.  
“Identify yourself!” Lance commanded.  
“I’m Monomime!” the Pokemon said.  
“A talking Pokemon…” James paled and shared a nervous glance with Jessie.  
“As I’m sure you all figured out, you’re all trapped here!” continued Monomime.  
“No duh,” Misty said.  
“And you will be for the rest of your lives!”  
Agatha shook her cane at Monomime. “No, we’re bloody well not! Someone’s gotta be coming to help me!”  
“Nope!” Monomime smiled. “But, there is a way to escape…”  
“And what would that be?” Giovanni inquired.  
“Well, isn’t that obvious? Kill another person!”


	2. Chapter 1: Daily Life

There was unrest among the sixteen Trainers gathered in front of the Pokemon Center. What could this Mr. Mime have meant?  
“Hey… Monomime, was it?” Surge asked. “What the fuck?”

“Oh, dear Surge, I meant exactly what I said!” Monomime clapped. “To escape, all you need to do is kill another person… and get away with it!”

“Get away with it?” Lorelei questioned. “What do you mean by that?”

“Why, it’s quite simple! First, let’s go over the rules!”

Erika nervously raised a hand. “M-Monomime, I don’t think-”

“That listening to me read out all the rules is an acceptable use of your time? I quite agree, Erika.”

“...What are you?” Sabrina asked.

“Well, that’s all the time I’ve got! You’ll find a copy of the school rules in your rooms in this here Center! Now, go and explore! And then murder each other!” With these closing words, Monomime vanished with a Teleport, leaving the sixteen Trainers standing around.

“So, what do we do?” Lance asked. “We can’t just give in to this thing!”

“I think we should read the rules, first of all,” Brock said. “If we want to be safe…”

“That makes a lot of sense!” Blaine exclaimed. “Everyone, let’s go find and read our copy of the rules, and then let’s meet back here and discuss!” With some nods and a few non-reactions, all sixteen filed into the Pokemon Center.

Inside, gone were the pastel yellow floors, the happy face of Nurse Joy, the PC in the corner… All that was there were sixteen doors with nameplates. From left to right, the rooms were Red, Blue, James, Brock, Surge, Koga, Blaine, Giovanni, Bruno, Lance, Agatha, Lorelei, Sabrina, Erika, Misty, and finally Jessie. Each person found their room key looped around the doorknob, and went inside.

Blue entered his room. It was a pretty average-looking hotel room. On the desk, there was a sheet of paper, labeled “Rules”; Blue picked it up and read it.  
_1\. Anyone who breaks these rules will be punished._  
_2\. Leaving the premises of Saffron City is not allowed._  
_3\. Nighttime is from 10 PM to 7 AM; during this time all buildings except the Pokemon Center, PokeMart, and Silph Co are locked._  
_4\. Sleeping outside of your room is not permitted._  
_5\. Violence against Monomime is not permitted._  
_6\. Anyone who kills a fellow ‘inhabitant’ becomes ‘blackened’. Only up to two inhabitants can be murdered by a single blackened._  
_7\. When the body of the murdered inhabitant is discovered by three or more ‘spotless’, the Body Discovery Announcement will play._  
_8\. After the Body Discovery Announcement plays, there will be a trial after an hour._  
_9\. In the trial, the spotless must try to uncover the blackened. At the end, there is a vote._  
_10\. If the blackened is successfully uncovered, they will be punished._  
_11\. If the blackened is not uncovered, every spotless is punished, and the blackened gets to leave the city._  
_12\. All punishments are executions._  
_13\. When four inhabitants remain, they all get to go free, unless there is a blackened among their number._

Blue looked up from the rule sheet. “What the hell…?” To him, this was… barbaric yet civilized. Horrific. “Why…?” His voice was weak. “Why do we have to-” He was interrupted by the sound of a door opening, but he… couldn’t tell where it was coming from. He left the room, to see twelve of the fifteen others. The three Team Rocket members were nowhere to be seen.

“Ah, Blue! Nice of you to join us!” Blaine said.

“Yeah, yeah, let’s just get on with it.” He waved his hand. Red looked worried at him for a second, and Blue waved a hand to signify that he was okay.

“So…” Misty had obvious tear marks on her face. “W-What do we do about this?”

“We stay,” Lance said. At everyone’s looks, he raised his hands. “None of us are gonna murder, I hope, so we just stay here. We investigate and try to find a way to escape.”

Lorelei spoke up. “However, can we say the same of Team Rocket?”

Everyone stayed silent at this.

Surge stood up. “Well, I for one am not gonna hang around here when I’m at risk of being killed! I'm… going to go find my Pokemon.” And Surge strode off. 

The remaining twelve looked after him. Agatha sighed. “Well, we know who’s getting murdered first…” At the other’s glares, she elaborated. “It’s gotta be someone on their own! I know how all this goes. I’m staying put because I don’t intend to die!”

Everyone shuffled around nervously. “What if we investigate in groups of three?” Blue suggested.

“An excellent suggestion, Blue,” Bruno said. “In groups of three it’d be hard to commit a murder, but also be small enough to investigate effectively.”

With sounds of assent, everyone else agreed to this and broke off into groups. Blue found himself with Red and Blaine. The trio was investigating the Magnet Train station one more time.  
“So,” Blaine began, “This is very odd.”

“No kidding.” Blue nodded with assent. All the windows on the station were painted black and reinforced, and the door was likewise painted and reinforced, but also locked. Red had even found a metal rod in a nearby building, likely placed by Monomime, and tried to shatter the windows with it. Nothing was working.

“I know I’m supposed to be knowledgeable, but what’s going on here is just… eluding me.” Blaine felt the glass one more time. Completely smooth.

“So,” Blue asked, “We can’t even see inside the train station. Do you think…?”

“That if we could get inside, we could escape? Yeah.” Blaine said. “But how do we get inside?”

“Kill another person, of course!” The trio whirled around to see Monomime.

“Just fuck off,” Blue said.

“Agreed,” Blaine sighed.

“Fine, fine…” Monomime sighed. “I get no recognition…” And the Pokémon was off.

After a bit more unsuccessful looking around, the group regrouped, with a bit of an addition: the three members of Team Rocket.

Lance glared at them but began. “So, myself, Lorelei, and Agatha investigated the Poke Mart. The place is stocked with food and water, plus weapons of all sorts.” This news was troubling to all.

“So, myself, Jessie, and the Boss investigated-” James began.

“Nobody asked you, Rocket scum,” Misty said.

“Scum? Scum? I’ll have you know-” Jessie stood up, only for Giovanni to cut her off. “Settle down, you two. If they don’t want our info, we won’t give it to them.”

The others were either glaring at them or nonreactive, so Blaine took it as an opportunity. “Red, Blue, and I investigated the train station. Apparently, according to Monomime, that is how the escapees will leave.” The others took in this info, and it was on to Brock.

“Misty, Erika, and I investigated Silph Co. Any floor that wasn’t first, second, third, or eleventh was inaccessible, including the basement. Inside, there were computers not connected to the internet, and some weapons.” This info was troubling. What was on those other floors? The others couldn’t dwell on this, though, as the final trio was about to present their findings. 

“The rooms appear to be soundproofed,” began Koga, “and they are all the exact same. A bed, desk, dresser, bathroom.”

“However,” Bruno said, “the sounds of doors opening and shutting are easily audible to those next to the room, but they will not know which side it came from. It is quite bizarre.”

“That sounds very engineery, and I’d take a look at it but I don’t think that Monomime would like that.” Surge spoke up. “Oh, and I didn’t do any fuckin; investigating. Other than looking for my Pokemon, that is. No dice.”

“It’s getting late…” Erika yawned. “I’m… gonna head to bed.”

“Me.. me too,” Misty said. “Today’s just been… so crazy.” 

Red nodded his assent, with his usual silence. Everyone else soon went off to bed. 

Blue drifted off into a dreamless sleep that night. He was too exhausted to sleep properly. 

At an incredibly early hour, Blue couldn’t tell when he was awoken by the sound of an opening door. Either Red or James was up and about. However, as it was approximately 4 AM, Blue was too tired to pay it any mind, and promptly went back to sleep, cursing how light of a sleeper he was.

At 7 AM, Blue awoke. He left his room, seeing Jessie and Bruno already awake.

“Ah, good morning, Blue.” Bruno bowed. “Have you, by chance, seen James?”

“Why do you care about him?”

“I believe that yesterday, we were too harsh to the Rockets. Anyway, Jessie is looking for him.”

Jessie spoke up, unusually panicked. “He’s- not in his room. We agreed to wake up early, and-”

Blue realized the implications of this. “Hey, Jessie? What time did you agree to wake up?”

“6:30, why?”

Blue thought back to the previous night. “At about… 4:30, maybe, I heard a door open, and my room’s next to James’s. I’m a light sleeper, but I didn’t think anything of it.”

Jessie paled. “If he was up at that hour, then…” She rushed out the door of the building.

“Let’s follow her,” Blue said.

Bruno nodded, and the two were off.

The pair tailed Jessie around the city, eventually hearing a scream from the Silph Co building around the corner. They rushed around the corner to see…  
Jessie paled, screaming, staring. At… the body of James. Lying face down on top of broken glass. There were tears in his clothes and bloody cuts in his skin on his sides. His limbs were at angles that probably shouldn’t have been possible, and James’s lavender hair was slightly stained with blood. When Bruno and Blue approached, the thing Blue had never wanted to hear was announced.

“A body has been discovered!”


	3. Chapter 1: Deadly Life

Blue could do nothing but helplessly look on, as Jessie wept for her partner. It was shocking. James, dead. Blue never really got to know James, but his death set in the harsh reality. This was real, it was actually happening.

“Please report to the base of Silph Co!” Monomime’s voice with its faux-friendliness was a lot more threatening, now that someone had actually died.

The first one to arrive was Lance, sprinting through the city. “Is it true- WHOA!” Lance leapt back in shock at James’s broken body, with Jessie on the ground crying next to it. “I-” Lance couldn’t finish saying anything before the next two showed up and interrupted him: Sabrina and Misty. 

“Aah!” Misty yelped. “I-I-I-But-”

Sabrina cut Lance and Misty off. “Settle down. We need to stay calm.”

Lance composed himself. “Y-you’re right. That is no way for a Champion to be acting.”

Misty pulled herself together. “Y-yeah.” 

The other nine participants showed up in short order, all incredibly shocked at the body. Once all fifteen participants were assembled, Monomime appeared. “Hello, all!”

“Just fucking shut up.” Surge growled.

“Ah, ah, ah! You all need to investigate, so I’ve prepared a helpful tool! Unless you don’t want it?”

Blue sighed. “We’ll take it.” 

“Great!” Monomime clapped. He vanished and reappeared with fifteen paper files. “These are the Monomime Files! Within, you’ll find all kinds of helpful information about the murder!”

Agatha shook her cane at Monomime. “You… Whoever’s running you will pay. You need to learn to-”

Monomime shook a finger. “Now’s not the time for that, lady. Have a Monomime File.” Everyone was promptly tossed their file before Monomime vanished.

“Let’s take a look at this file, shall we?” Giovanni said Everyone looked at the file.

_The victim is James of Team Rocket._   
_The time of death was approximately 4:30 AM._   
_The body was found splayed on the ground in front of Silph Co._   
_There are cuts on the victim’s sides, but the fatal blow appears to have been falling. No other wounds are visible._

Blue looked at the file, then looked up. He stared up at Silph Co., seeing a broken window on the very top floor.

The others looked up and saw the very same window. “So… he fell out of that?” Erika asked, quietly.

“I don’t think so,” Blaine said. “It wouldn’t have been murder if that were the case. I think he was shoved out.”

“Shoved?” Misty asked. “So whoever pushed him would be the murderer… right?”

Brock nodded. “Yeah, that’d be it. One of us… murdered James.”

This sunk in. One of them was a murderer.

“So, we should all split up and investigate now,” Lorelei said.

“Why don’t we stick together?” Koga asked. “Safety in numbers.”

“We’ll have plenty of time to discuss our findings at the trial, splitting up will help us cover more ground.”

Blaine thought for a moment. “Let’s split up into pairs at the very least. Can’t have the killer destroying evidence.”

With everyone’s agreement, the pairs (Brock, Blaine, and Sabrina as a trio) split off. Blue and Red, alongside Erika and Misty, were heading to the top of the building in an elevator. 

Misty spoke up. “So… while we wait, should we all share what we know about the case, or…?”

Red nodded. 

“That’s fine by me!” Blue said. 

“I’ll start,” Erika said. “I… went to bed last night, as did everyone else, and woke up in the morning. I recall hearing no doors open, but I am a deep sleeper, so someone might have come in or out while I was deeply asleep.”

Misty was next. “Well, I heard someone leave their room last night, at… 4:30 AM, about? That means it must have been Erika or Jessie.” 

“Excuse me?” Erika asked.

“Let’s not jump to conclusions,” Blue warned. “Jessie was already awake when I woke up this morning, so she might have gotten up after James left. Either way, I heard someone leave their room at a similar time; it was probably James.”

“And Red?” Misty asked.

Red shook his head no, he hadn’t heard anything. 

“So we have no definite suspects yet... “ Misty mused. Just then, the elevator door dinged open, and the group filed into the office with the broken window. They began looking around.

The office seemed to be in almost perfect order, just as Blue had woken up in, with a few exceptions. The window was broken, sending chilly wind into the office. Papers were scattered because of this. The broken window had slight blood on it, and there was a hammer lying by the window. Blue and the others combed the room for clues.

Soon, Red held up something, showing it to Blue: a piece of paper looked to have about a quarter torn off, and there was a slight ink marking.  
“Did… someone write something on this, and tear it off?” Blue asked. That seemed to be what had happened there. He folded up the paper and put it in his pocket, to hold onto it. The only other thing of note seemed to be the hammer.

“The hammer is clean…” Erika mused. “Completely clean.”

“So…” Misty said. “It wasn’t used at all?”

Blue came over to the two. “If the hammer is clean, it would stand to reason that it’s a decoy…” 

“Find anything else?” Erika asked. 

“Nothing important,” Blue said. Red nodded, agreeing.

“Oh. Well, we’ll keep looking!” Misty said. “Why don’t you head down, I’m sure there’s some investigating you can do down there!”

Blue agreed, and he and Red headed down the building. They arrived at the bottom, where Koga, Surge, Giovanni, and Jessie were. Jessie was still weeping next to the body, while the other three were investigating. Surge waved them over. “Hey, you boys. Did ya find anything up there?”

“Yeah, a clean hammer,” Blue said. “Nothing more, but we left Misty and Erika up there. They’re still hunting for clues. What’d you guys find?”

“James was lying on top of the broken glass. He was only cut on his sides, presumably from the glass,” Koga began.

“Oh yeah!” Surge said. “His scalp was bloody, and his front was bruised. Both… are symptoms of death by falling.”

“In addition,” Giovanni said, “James had a note on his person.” Giovanni held out the note. It was a torn quarter-sheet of paper that read,

_Dear Jessie,_   
_I am sorry for how I treated you, your partner, and your boss yesterday. I have found an escape route. Meet me at the top of Silph Co. at 5:00 AM. There, we’ll talk. I hope to see you there!_

Blue finished reading the note. He gave it back to Giovanni. “So, Jessie was invited, but James went?”

Giovanni looked at Blue. “I knew about this note last night. Jessie brought it to me. We formed a plan that Jessie and James would go together at 4:45 and meet this mystery person, so that it would be solidified, and then report back to me at the dorms at 6:30.”

Blue looked at the incoherent Jessie. “Well, I thought-”

“Save discussion, or anything more than the statement of facts, until the trial. Let’s investigate for now.”

Surge piped up. “I have nothing to offer you about last night. I snore, so that drowned out anything I would have heard.”

Koga nodded. “I heard nothing, as well, and I am an especially light sleeper. That means that Surge and Blaine must be innocent.”

“Interesting. Any idea where any of the others are?”

“They were all investigating the Pokemon Center,” Surge said. 

“Well, we’ll head over there-” Blue began, only to be interrupted by the voice of Monomime. “It’s time for the trial! Everyone, please make your way to Silph Co’s elevator!”

“Convenient timing…” Blue grumbled. 

“So it’s trial time?” Giovanni asked. “Interesting…”

Very soon, the fifteen of them were in the elevator inside of Silph Co. The elevator shook and started moving, bringing the fifteen remaining participants to the basement, where the first Trial would take place, revealing James’s killer.


	4. Chapter 1: Trial

The elevator descended into Silph Co’s basement, drastically remodeled: it now held sixteen podiums in a circle. One of the podiums had a portrait of James with a crude X and the other fifteen all had names. Monomime was sitting on a chair behind the podium labeled “Bruno”, and the Pokemon clapped its hands when the elevator opened. “Hahaaa! Everyone, find your places, please!”

“What…?” Sabrina mused out loud, but everyone found their places anyway, and the trial began.

Blue was nervous, standing on the trial ground like he was. However, that would have to wait. Someone killed James. One of them killed James. Him and the others had to figure it out, or… it was curtains for all of them.

Monomime was standing on his chair. “First, I should probably explain the class trial! So, your votes will determine the results. If you can figure out "whodunnit" then only they will receive punishment. But if you pick the wrong one... then I'll punish everyone besides the blackened, and the one that deceived everyone else will graduate!”

“Yeah, yeah, let’s just get on with it.” Surge said.

“But where do we start?” Lorelei asked.

“We should go over the details of the case,” Giovanni said. “What if we first discuss the circumstances around the murder?”

“That sounds like a fine plan,” Lance said.

“Why are we listening to him?” Misty asked. “He’s a criminal!”

“A criminal we need to listen to,” Brock said. “It was one of his that got murdered!”

“Let’s try to stay on-topic, all!” Blaine said. “Let’s go over the circumstances surrounding the case.”

-NONSTOP DEBATE: START!-

“It’s obvious,” began Agatha, “that he died from falling!”

“Where did he fall from?” asked Lorelei. 

“That’s obvious, too: the top office of the Silph Co. building!” said Brock.

“Well, if we’re talking up there, Erika and I found a hammer!” Misty supplied. “Maybe that was the murder weapon?”

“That’s stupid!”

-COUNTER: SURGE-

-BREAK-

“What’d you say?” asked Misty.

“I said that’s stupid!” Surge said. “If the hammer was used, there’d be a wound on James’s body!”

“Wasn’t there blood on his scalp?” Misty asked.

“Yeah, but that’s something consistent from falling from a great height!”

“...Oh.” This satisfied Misty.

“A-also, the hammer would have blood on it,” supplied Erika. “If James was hit on his head strong enough to bleed, then the hammer would have blood on it.”

“So, if the murder weapon wasn’t the hammer, it must have been…” Blue trailed off.

“The fall itself.” Sabrina, now. “I think it’s safe to say that, given the state of James’s body, he died when he hit the ground.”

“Indeed,” Koga said. “Surge, Giovanni, and I looked at the underside of the body. It was heavily bruised, which is consistent with falling.”

“So James died when he hit the ground… but why’d he fall in the first place?” Bruno asked.

“I suspect we’ll not be able to answer that until we figure out the story behind the case,” Blaine said. “If we go over a timeline of events, we might be able to figure this out!”

-NONSTOP DEBATE: START-

“According to the Monomime File,” Lance began, “James died at approximately 5 AM.”

“Maybe someone heard someone else leave before that time?” asked Koga.

“I did!” Blue said. “James left… at about 4 AM. I heard him!”

“I heard him as well!” Brock said. 

“That’s great, but it still tells us nothing about the killer.” Surge, now.

“We don’t even know why James left!” Agatha said.

“That’s wrong, old woman!”

-COUNTER: BLUE-

-BREAK-

“What did you just call me?” Agatha demanded.

“Old woman, we do know why James went out.”

Agatha started sputtering, only to be cut off by Giovanni. “Indeed. Jessie, last night, received a note under her door, asking her to meet someone at the top of Silph Co.”

“But Jessie wasn’t murdered: it was James!” Lance protested.

“We had planned for both of them to go together to the meeting. However, James went earlier than planned. This clearly led to his demise.”

“Wait!” Misty said. “That means that we know who the killer is!”

“Really?” asked Koga.

“It’s got to be Jessie!” the redhead exclaimed. “Think about it! She’s been awfully quiet this whole time, and why else would she not go with James?”

“I don’t think that’s the case, Misty,” Blue said, glancing at Jessie. Jessie had obvious tear marks running down her cheeks and was almost catatonic.. 

“What do you mean? It’s gotta be Jessie, there’s no other possibility!”

-NONSTOP DEBATE: START-

Agatha led. “Look at her, she can’t even defend herself!”

“Would you two just calm down and not jump to conclusions?” Blue yelled.

“We’re not jumping to conclusions. She forged the note, she lured James out early, all to kill him!” Misty said. 

“Exactly!” Agatha said. “So, we should all vote now! The culprit is clear!”

“Wait!” Blaine, now. “We haven’t established a motive!”

“Does that really matter?” Misty said. “She doesn’t even have an alibi!”

“Why?!”

-COUNTER: JESSIE-

-BREAK-

“Oh, so she speaks,” Agatha said. 

“Now things might move forwards…” Koga grumbled.

Jessie visibly composed herself and bowed in Giovanni’s direction. “I am sorry, Boss, for my past actions. I needed time to… collect myself. I will make up for it now, and prove my innocence.”

Giovanni smirked. “Go ahead.”

“As I was saying…” Jessie said, “the question I’m asking is why? Why would I kill my friend, my partner?”

“I-” Misty clearly hadn’t thought that far ahead.

“And, I believe Jessie has an alibi,” Blue chimed in. “You confirmed it yourself, Misty.”

“I did?” Misty asked.

“Yes, you did. Well, assuming one thing: Sabrina, did you hear anyone leave their room last night?”

“No,” the psychic answered. “If someone next to me, Erika or Lorelei, left their room last night, I would most certainly have noticed.”

“And Misty…” Erika spoke up, “In that elevator, didn’t you say you heard someone leaving their room at about 4:45?”

“That was the originally planned time!” Jessie said. “The boss can corroborate that!”

“Indeed I can,” said Giovanni.

“It was also after James left,” Brock said, “so Jessie being the killer makes no sense!”

“If she stayed overnight at Silph Co., she would be a lot more tired,” Koga said.

“Well, now what?” Lance asked. “It seems this line of discussion has hit a dead end.”

“Well, we should figure out more of what happened,” Lorelei cut in. “Giovanni left off with the note before Misty interrupted us.”

“Well, what do we know?” Blue asked.

“We should go over the actual murder, first,” Jessie said. “That’ll lead us somewhere!”

-NONSTOP DEBATE: START-

“We already know that James died from falling and that the fall killed him…” Sabrina said.

“We also figured out that the hammer was not used to strike James!” Brock proclaimed.

“The only thing on the body we haven’t discussed is the cuts on his sides…” Erika said.

“Those cuts look like they came from broken glass,” Giovanni said.

“So is that it? Did the culprit sneak up behind James and shove him through the window?” Lance, now.

“That must be it!” 

-CONSENT: LANCE & BLUE-

-BREAK-

“Yeah, that’s gotta be it! James was shoved through the window!” Blue exclaimed. “That’s where the cuts on his sides must have come from!”

“How would someone shove someone else through a window like that?” Brock asked. “You’d have to be incredibly strong…”

“So, how about it, Bruno?” Misty asked. “Could you shove someone through a window?”

Bruno looked at the gazes of his fellow participants. “Yes, I most likely could.”

-NONSTOP DEBATE: START-

“So is that it? Bruno snuck up behind James and shoved him through the window?” Brock asked.

“N-no, I can’t believe it! Bruno would never do something like that!” Lance yelled.

“But all the evidence is pointing to him…” Agatha muttered.

“I could shove someone through a window, but I assure you all, I did not kill James,” Bruno said.

“Yes, but where’s your alibi?” asked Surge. 

“I-” Bruno was caught off guard.

“He doesn’t have an alibi! It must be him!” Misty pointed at Bruno and yelled.

“No, it can’t!” 

-COUNTER: LANCE-

-BREAK-

“How can it not be Bruno? We’ve just established-” Misty began.

“No,” Lance said. “Remember the Body Discovery Announcement?”

“...What about it?” asked Sabrina.

“It only plays when three innocent people find the body. I was the fourth to see the body this morning. The other three were…”

“Myself, Bruno, and Blue!” said Jessie. “So it can’t have been any of us!”

“We could have used that earlier…” grumbled Brock.

“Those are the only three with an alibi, however…” Koga said. “How do we proceed from here?”

“Let’s take a look at that hammer,” Lorelei said. “I get the feeling it’ll help us narrow down possible suspects.”

-NONSTOP DEBATE: START-

“What about the hammer?” Blue asked. “We already established that it didn’t hit James…”

“That’s because it’s completely clean!” Misty said.

“But what if someone washed it off?” Erika asked.

“Then there would be a wound on James, which there wasn’t.” Giovanni responded.

“So how did James get through the window?” asked Bruno.

“The cuts on his sides are consistent with getting shoved through…” Misty mused.

“No, that’s not correct!” 

-COUNTER: BLAINE-

-BREAK-

“What do you mean, Blaine?” Sabrina asked.

“Well, up until now, I hadn’t seen the front of the body. And, because of this, I only just now realized the issue: if the shove broke the window, then James would have cuts on his front too!”

“So the reason the hammer’s clean and the glass is bloody is that…” Blue mused.

“That the hammer broke the glass and then was left there! James was shoved through the already broken window!” Jessie declared.

“It seems likely that the window was broken before James arrived, and that he approached it out of curiosity. Then, all the killer needed to do was shove him…” mused Sabrina.

“We’re no closer to the killer than before!” exclaimed Lance. “Now we have nothing to go on!”

-NONSTOP DEBATE: START-

“So, what do we do?” asked Erika. 

“Where’d the hammer come from?” asked Agatha.

“No way to tell, lady,” Surge said. “From the report and the searching, it could have come from either Silph Co. or the Pokemart.”

“Is this it?” Brock asked.

“No, there’s got to be some evidence!” Koga said. “No crime is perfect.

“Haven’t you heard? We’ve gone over everything everyone found!” Misty exclaimed.

“...No!!”

-COUNTER: RED-

-BREAK-

Everyone swiveled to look at Red. None of them had ever heard him say a word in their lives.

“Ha! I told you!” Agatha yelled, triumphantly. 

Red, fittingly for his name, turned red and pulled his cap down over his face.

“Let’s get back on topic,” Blue said. “Red said there was some evidence, right?”

The shy boy nodded, keeping his hat over his face. 

“What was it?”

Red pointed at Blue’s pocket. Blue felt inside and found the paper from Silph Co. “Oh, yeah, guys! Red and I found this paper at Silph Co, and it looks like something was torn off!”

Giovanni, standing next to Blue, got out the note addressed to Jessie. “It appears to be a match.”

“So,” Blue said, “we now have a smaller list of suspects: everyone who went to Silph Co. prior to the murder!”

“And prior to nightfall, as the note was slid under my door very early into the night,” Jessie contributed.

“Who are the suspects then?” Koga asked.

“Well,” Brock said, “Blue woke up there. Misty, Erika, and I investigated the place…”

“And I woke up on the first floor,” Bruno said.

“But Bruno and Blue are innocent from the Body Discovery Announcement…” mused Lance.

“So the murderer must be Brock, Erika, or Misty, then,” Lorelei said.

“You’re accusing us?” Misty asked. “Really?”

“I don’t think any of us three could murder someone, even if we wanted to…” Erika said.

“Well,” Blaine said, “let’s figure out from those next to you in the room order if they heard anything.”

“Brock is next to James and Surge, Misty is next to Erika and Jessie, and Erika is next to Misty and I.” Sabrina summarized. “We cannot get testimony from James or Jessie, given that neither were in their rooms at the time of the murder.”

“Well, I have nothin’,” Surge said. “I snore too loudly to hear anything at night.”

“I heard nothing as well, and I am a very light sleeper,” Sabrina said, “so it couldn’t be Erika.”

“I heard Jessie, but nobody else!” Misty supplied.

“And I heard nothing as well,” Erika said, “but I am a very deep sleeper.”

“So Erika has been backed up, but it could still be either Brock or Misty!” Lance said.

-NONSTOP DEBATE: START-

“I didn’t do it!” Misty cried.

“Well, neither did I…” Brock said. 

“How are we supposed to pick one? Both are suspicious,” Koga said.

“We have no evidence either way,” Agatha said.

“Well, what about that paper that Red found?” Lorelei asked. 

“We each took on different parts of the building, so that would make it obvious!” Brock said.

“Oh, yeah!” Blue said. “Red found it in the top office, the one with the broken window.”

“If that’s the case… I know who it is.”

-CONSENT: ERIKA & BLUE-

-BREAK-

“You do?” asked Giovanni. “Enlighten us, Erika.”

The woman took a deep breath, holding back tears. “I… I don’t want to condemn my friend, but…”

Everyone was pensive, especially the accused.

“...It’s Misty.”

Blue’s jaw dropped. Brock nodded grimly. Red finally looked outside of his hat.

Misty, on the other hand, wasn’t taking this too well. “You- you- you’re just gonna ACCUSE ME OF MURDER? I WOULDN’T! I COULDN’T!”

-CONVICTION CONUNDRUM: START-

Lorelei nodded. “You have been awfully accusatory this whole trial.”

“I- I- I wanted to FIND THE TRUE CULPRIT, WHO ISN’T ME!”

“And,” Giovanni contributed, “the note mentioned treating Jessie poorly; you were the one yesterday talking about how we should be ignored.”

“It- it- it WASN’T JUST ME! THAT PROVES NOTHING!”

“This reaction just confirms it,” Surge said. 

“You- I- I- I COULDN’T MURDER ANYONE!”

“The evidence is pointing to you, Misty! Just accept it!” Blue raised his voice a little.

“STOP YELLING AT ME!” Misty roared.

“Why, Misty?” Brock asked. “Why would you kill James?”

“I DIDN’T! YOU CAN’T JUST PIN THE CRIME ON ME!”

Red raised a hand, hesitantly. 

“AND YOU! THAT PAPER YOU FOUND MEANS NOTHING!”

“Calm yourself, girl,” Agatha said. “If you-”

“YOU’RE ONE TO TALK ABOUT BEING CALM!”

“You even tried to accuse me, even after I claimed my own innocence,” Bruno said. “So tell me why we should extend the same courtesy to you?”

“BECAUSE I’M INNOCENT! I DIDN’T KNOW YOU WERE!”

“Why are you so enraged if you’re not the culprit?” Koga asked.

“BECAUSE YOU ARE ALL STICKING TO YOUR STUPID STORY WHICH PAINTS ME, SOMEONE COMPLETELY INNOCENT, AS THE KILLER!”

“Misty, please! Just admit it!” Lance said.

“I HAVE NOTHING TO ADMIT! YOU HEAR ME? NOTHING!”

“Why are you so mad? Even for you, this is unusual!” Blaine said.

“I’M MAD BECAUSE- BECAUSE- BECAUSE I’M INNOCENT AND YOU THINK I’M GUILTY!”

Sabrina thought for a second. “No, wait, Blaine’s right. This rage seems almost… unnatural.”

“UNNATURAL? YOU’RE CALLING A PERFECTLY REASONABLE REACTION ‘UNNATURAL’?”

“Reasonable? If you call that reasonable, then what was everything you’ve done, to me and to my partner, Misty,” Jessie’s words were like venom, “was it just a fantasy? A- a- game? Did you just want to escape? Explain yourself.”

“I- I- I- I- I- I DON’T HAVE TO E-EXPLAIN MYSELF! I. DIDN’T. MURDER. JAMES!”

Erika was last. “Misty… even when you get upset, it’s not normally this upset. This mad, this angry. I know I might be blowing things out of proportion, but something’s definitely wrong. Just calm down, okay? For… for your friend?”

“FRIEND? YOU ACCUSED ME OF- OF- OF- OF- of- of- of- of- of- of- of- of- of…” Misty trailed off, stuttering.

-FULL COUNTER-

-BREAK-

“M-Misty?” asked Erika.

Instead of yelling, Misty was now crying. “I- I killed James- it was me-”

“Why?” Jessie yelled. “Why did you do that? And why did you deny it so violently?”

“I- I-” Misty sniffled. “Let me- let me go over- the case.”

-CLOSING ARGUMENT(?): BEGIN-

Misty composed herself, then began. “It all started when I woke up. Ever since I woke up here, in this city, in this killing game… there’s been a part of me that’s angry. Irrationally angry. Koga, Red, and Blue saw that in the Fighting Dojo for themselves. This… this ‘angry’ part of me… is also very paranoid, and even can ‘take control’. It’s- it’s awful and I wish it would JUST GO AWAY!” 

Lorelei reached out to Misty, putting a hand on her shoulder. Misty calmed down. “Th-thanks. As I was saying, this ‘angry, paranoid’ side of me… it feels like it isn’t a part of me. Anyway, when the killing game got introduced… I was paranoid. Paranoid of the Rockets, mostly. You all saw how distrusting I was of them, and- I concocted a plan. When we went out to investigate, I realized that Jessie’s room was next to mine, with no other witnesses, so I- I targeted her. When James came instead, that really didn’t matter for the plan. While Brock and Erika were investigating the lower parts of the building, I wrote a note to Jessie and discarded the remaining bit of the paper. I kept the note with me, and delivered it to Jessie. I expected her to go to James, but not to her boss as well. I- I snuck out ahead of time and used that hammer from lower parts of Silph to- to shatter the window. When James walked up to the broken window to investigate, I- I shoved him out and hid outside the dorms, and joined up with everyone else to go find the- the body. And that’s the story of it all.”

-COMPLETE-

-BREAK-

Everyone was struck speechless by this story.

“Misty… about that angry, paranoid thing… do you know anything about it?” Sabrina asked.

“N-no.”

“A shame, then,” Sabrina said. “Monomime, we’re ready to vote.”

“Are you now?” The Fairy-type asked. “Well, let’s get on with it!”

Sixteen buttons appeared in front of the participants with the faces of the sixteen participants. Each of them selected who they believed was the culprit.

“And the one who you all voted as the blackened was…” Monomime announced, “Misty, the Water Gym Leader of Cerulean City! It’s… punishment time!”

Misty nodded. “I… deserve this. I- I- I DO NOT DESERVE-” 

A chute opened up beneath her, cutting her off. She slid down the slide into a pool. 

A screen turned on, and the other fourteen watched in horror as the execution began.

A title appeared on the screen: _Misty’s Last Swim_

Misty was deposited in a pool. This pool had high walls, so the only way out was via the ladder at the end. Behind the ladder was a carving of a Starmie. On the other side of the pool, there were spikes sticking out of the wall. Misty saw this and immediately began to swim for the ladder. However, the Starmie behind the ladder began to spin, acting as a giant propeller. It began to spin, starting slowly. Misty could still outswim it, and she swam for the ladder, fighting her way through the current. However, the Starmie propellor began to build up speed, and the current began to flow faster and faster. Misty continued to swim through it, trying as hard as she can. She reached the ladder barely amid the current, and touched it with her hand. Then, the current grew too strong, tearing her away from the ladder and carrying her straight into the spikes, where she was impaled. The camera faded into static, leaving one last look at Misty, spikes through her body. 

The remaining fourteen stared at the screen, horrified. Monomime clapped. “So, kids, how’d you enjoy your first trial?” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Conviction Conundrum is my own creation! It is taking the place of Argument Armaments and Panic Talk Actions. It is functionally like a Scrum Debate, but it's the whole group against one. The name isn't mine, though, it was a suggestion from Discord.


	5. Interlude A

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is just a quick little interlude...

“Any luck?”

“No, none.”

“If we could get their guard down, I could warp in there…”

“But how do we blindside someone like the mastermind?”

“If we could get a message inside…”

“I’ve tried, psychic messages don’t work. It’s likely they’ve got some sort of suppression mechanism set up.”

“Couldn’t even contact Sabrina…”

“What do we do…? Father…?”

“Listen, we’ll get your father, the boss, and all the others out. Even if I have to get my hands dirty…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In order, the lines are as follows:  
> Person A, Person B, Person C, Person D, Person E, Person C, Person B, Person E, Person B


	6. Chapter 2: Daily Life

The fourteen remaining Trainers were transfixed, staring at the TV screen that now was just static. Monomime huffed. “Did you enjoy the trial or not?”

Surge whirled on the spot and ran up to Monomime. “Hell no! You put us through this, expect us to enjoy this, and for what? Why are you putting us through this?”

Monomime laughed. “Oh, I never told you? Well, whatever, you’ll find out eventually! Let’s just say… the game has been going on for one day now, right?”

“...What of it?” Sabrina asked. 

“Well, I’ll be ever so kind and give you a hint that will help you!”

“A hint?” Lance asked.

“Yep! And I hate lying, so it’s only the hard and fast truth: this game has a time limit!”

Everyone turned to stare at Monomime. “...What do you mean by a time limit?” asked Bruno.

“If nobody escapes before the time limit runs out, we all die, including myself!”

“What is this time limit?” Brock asked.

“I have no idea!” Monomime said. “It’s not right around the corner, but I don’t know more than that!”

As the assorted Trainers pondered this, Monomime continued. “Also! You guys get some rewards for completing this trial!”

“What rewards could possibly be worth that?” Jessie asked.

“Oh, what about a file? And a floor of Silph Co.?”

“A file?” Giovanni asked.

“Well, more like five files, but you’ll have to search for them! I put together twenty-seven files, each of which belongs to a category: people, places, or Pokemon! During each trial, several files, I’ll tell you how many, will be scattered around the city, including in the new areas.”

“How are we supposed to know what to look for?” Blaine asked.

“You’ll see…” Monomime trailed off, cryptically. “Now go look for those files! And, keep in mind, you do not have to share a file if you find it; it can be kept all to yourself if you so desire! Have fun!” 

The elevator doors slid open, and the fourteen filed into it. DUe to the horrors they had just witnessed, everyone stayed silent on the way back up. When the elevator opened into the lobby, everyone stepped out and noticed something amiss: an otherwise unremarkable manila folder. Surge strode over to it purposefully, and picked it up. He scanned the cover. “...Ah, so this is what that bastard meant.”

“If you would read it out loud?” Lorelei said. “If you keep it a secret, then you’ll only seem suspicious…”

Surge got a hold of himself. “Right. This is one of those ‘people’ files Monomime mentioned. More specifically, it’s James’s.” He opened it and began to page through. “...Whoa.”

“Don’t just keep us waiting!” Agatha said. “What’s inside?”

Surge simply responded with a curt “Very personal information.” He then proceeded to hand the file to Jessie.

“Me?” she asked.

“You were closest to him. I feel like you should take it and read it. You’d know better than myself what’s too personal.”

“Right.” Jessie opened the file and began to read.

“So, this first page… is vitals. Height, weight, blood type, etcetera. It looks to be a full doctor’s evaluation, but the doctor’s name is missing. The second page is… James’s birth certificate…? Where did they- nevermind. Third is his school report cards… fourth is a psychological evaluation… The next few are all interviews, here we go!” 

“And who exactly is in these interviews?” Giovanni asked. “Why would people be interviewed about James?”

Jessie paged through them. “The first one is his parents… second is his grandparents… third is that awful woman- I mean Jessebelle… fourth is the headmaster of our academy… and last is…” Jessie audibly gasped. “B-Boss? The last interview is… Archer.”

“Archer? Who’s that?” Brock asked.

“One of my four executives. My second-in-command,” Giovanni responded. “He… never told me anything about this. Curious indeed. Couple that with a psychological evaluation, and this is starting to paint a strange picture...”

“Well, Boss, there’s still more… There’s a summary of his past on page nine. Page ten is… an update, amending previous parts and detailing his current life state. Lastly, is…” Jessie paled. “A summarization of how all the previous actions will affect his behavior in the killing game.”

“So this isn’t random…” Erika trailed off. “We were chosen for a reason…”

“I’ll… read the file and get back to you…” Jessie said.

“Logically,” Sabrina said, “fifteen of the other twenty-six files are probably on the rest of us.”

“So we’ve gotta find our own files!” Blue said. “There are four more around right now; I’m gonna go look!” And Blue left to go file hunting. However, a nagging worry persisted at the back of his mind: what if someone finds a living person’s file and uses the information against them…?

Blue first decided to check the Gym. There, there was no file. Blue stepped on the warp tile to test it, but it was still inactive. Then, the door behind him slid open, and someone stepped into the room.  
“I see you and I had the same idea,” Sabrina greeted. “No luck with the warp tiles?”

“Oh, hey, Sabrina,” Blue said. “No, sorry. No files, either.”

“That’s a shame…” the psychic said. “I can’t locate the files even vaguely, or much of anything that’s not immediately near me. It’s like there’s some kind of dark aura…”

“That sounds… not fun,” Blue said. “Do you want to talk about it?”

“Let us search while we talk,” Sabrina responded, and the two left the building. 

“So, Sabrina, it must be tough to see your city like this. Did your psychic powers give you any intel before you came here?” Blue began.

“Oddly, no. And this is the first time I’ve experienced a loss of my powers since I was a little girl, which is exceptionally odd.”

“That is strange… have you ever had a completely unforeseen event like this before?”

“Not at all, not since my powers awakened. Some strong Dark-type Pokémon, as well as some exceptional Psychics, have dampened my powers like this before, but not in such a way or to a degree. Whereas, say, a Malamar or Orbeetle would make my powers weaker on the whole, whatever’s going on here feels like a black fog surrounding me, impeding my powers with distance.”

Blue opened the door to the Fighting Dojo, commenting on the statement. “That is extremely strange. So does that mean-” Blue stopped, seeing a manila folder on the floor of the dojo.

“So we have found a file. Whose is it?” Sabrina gazed at the file.

Blue walked over to it, picking it up. “This one looks to be Koga’s file.”

Sabrina thought for a moment. “Yet Koga is still with us… these files could be used as weapons against their owners. We should give it to him; he’ll know what to do with it.”

“Agreed.” And Blue, followed by Sabrina, left for the Pokemon Center to share the file with the others.

At the Pokemon Center, the group reconvened, minus Jessie. Only Agatha, Lance, and Blue held files.

“Three files plus James’s is… only four,” Blaine noted. “Did anyone find that fifth file?”

Nobody came forth. 

“Well, Sabrina and I found Koga’s file,” Blue commented.

“Mine’s Red’s,” Lance said. 

“Would you mind giving my file to me?” Koga asked. “I think that’s only logical,”

“Sure!” Blue handed Koga’s file to him. Red walked up to Lance and took his file.

“Agatha, what’s your file?” Erika asked.

“It’s a secret! I’m giving it to the owner later, because I actually am respectful, unlike you lot,” Agatha huffed.

At the stares of everyone else, she put her hands up. “It’s the truth!”

“Fine…” Surge said.

The group was joined by Jessie, emerging from her room. She had James’s file in her hands. “Find anything?” Koga asked.

“N-no… Only that his survival chance was… 5%,” Jessie said. 

“Curious…” Koga said. “My file lacks the last page that James’s had, about actions during the killing game.”

Red nodded. His file didn’t have that either.

“Mysteries upon mysteries…” Giovanni mused. “Well, we gain nothing by sitting here. I say we meet up tomorrow to compare information. We still need to find that last file, after all…” The stoic man stood up and left.

“He irks me…” Brock said. “So cryptic… He should be more open!”

“...He’s right, though…” Lance said. “Sitting here gets nothing done.” 

With this, everyone filed off to do their own thing. Blue found himself wandering. What was there to really do in this forsaken city? And so the former Champion wandered. At one point, he turned around, only to see… Jessie?

“How long have you been there? Have you been… following me?”

Jessie flushed. “I- I was suspicious! It’s- I definitely wasn’t following you because I didn’t want to be alone!”

Blue smirked. “Sure. While you’re here, wanna chat? Get your mind off things?”

“...That would be nice,” Jessie admitted. “I just- it feels so weird being alone, you know? I’ve… I’ve been with James near-constantly for- for years, and to have that end- it’s…”

“I get that…” Blue sighed. “But, we need you to keep moving forward. You helped massively in the last trial, and-”

“I know that!” Jessie yelled. “It’s- it’s just- he was always by my side, and now he’s… not. And I don’t even have my Pokemon…”

“Well, I won’t fault you if you need to just take a break from everything. Just to get… back on track, ya know?” Blue kept walking, Jessie behind him. They walked past Blaine and Surge, still chatting.

“Thanks, but, well… that doesn’t feel right. Especially with Rocket seemingly tied up in this game as a whole; the Boss, James, and I inside it and Archer in those interviews… there’s something going on, and I feel like I’m needed,” Jessie sighed. 

“That’s fair…” Blue said. “Well, just do what feels right to you. If you need to take a break or want to keep going, it doesn’t matter.”

Jessie smiled. “Thanks…” 

The pair found themselves back at the Pokemon Center. “Well, it’s gettin’ late,” Blue said. “See ya tomorrow!”

Jessie nodded. “See you!” 

The two parted ways that night not as enemies, but as friends.

Erika awoke late the next morning, sleeping in as usual. She slowly got out of bed. She exited into the main room to see Surge, Lance, and Blaine. They were having an intense conversation as she approached, and they looked up at her approach. 

“Erika!” Blaine waved. “Have you seen Agatha lately?”

“No…?” She asked. “Not since we met up yesterday. Why do you ask?”

Lance looked grim. “Neither Lorelei or I saw her at all after that meeting yesterday, and we didn’t hear her entering her room last night. Lorelei’s out looking, but we thought we’d wait. As far as we can tell, you’re the last one up. And if Agatha wasn’t in her room…”

Erika gasped. “Oh no!”

“Let’s get going, then,” Surge said. “We have a senior citizen to find…”

The four present in the building split up to search for Agatha. Along the way, Erika bumped into Koga.

“Erika! What’s the matter?” the ninja asked.

“It- it’s A-Agatha! She didn’t go into her room last night, and we can’t find her! Have you seen her?”

“No… But I shall help you look!” The pair rushed off, trying every door and checking every open building, until they found one doorknob that would turn, but the door wouldn’t open.

“What’s this?” Erika asked.

“It seems as if the door has been barred…” Koga said. “We could break down the door, or try to find another way in.”

“Try a window!” Erika suggested.

“Understood,” Koga nodded, and slinked around the building. Erika turned and waved, calling for someone. They needed three, after all, in case Agatha really was dead. Fortunately, Blaine happened to be nearby, and the older man jogged up. 

“Erika! What’s the story?” he asked.

“This door is barred from the inside. Koga’s trying to get in through a window,” Erika explained.

“This is a pickle…” As Blaine was saying that, the door opened from the inside. Koga was there, standing at the open door. He bore a grim expression on his face. He stood aside, revealing…

Despair.

Agatha lay face up, an expression of shock on her face. Her cane, acting as the door bar, was on the ground after Koga moved it, covered in blood. Agatha’s head had a matching wound, and she clutched a manila folder with blood spatters on it to her chest.

Then, the dreadful announcement went off for the second time.

“A body has been discovered!”


	7. Chapter 2: Deadly Life

Blue’s head snapped up to look around. Another body? So soon? Who was it this time? Red, next to him, looked pensive, waiting for the second phase of the announcement. 

“Please report to Mr. Psychic’s house!” the grating voice of their captor announced with glee.

Blue stood up. “We… might as well get going,” he said. In the back of his mind, he dreaded what he was about to see.

Red stood up and nodded. He, too, was nervous, but there was no choice. They got up and left for Mr. Psychic’s house.

Blue and Red were some of the last to arrive on the scene, with only Bruno coming later. When they arrived, Monomime was already there. 

“So, another one’s bit the dust, eh?” The Pokemon clapped his hands in glee. “Well, I won’t keep you waiting!” The mime handed out laminated papers. “Here’s your Monomime file! I chose laminated paper this time to save on materials… Anyway, have fun investigating!” Monomime Teleported away, leaving the remaining thirteen to gawk at the body.

Blue looked at his Monomime file.

_The victim is Agatha of the Elite Four._  
_The time of death was approximately 7:30 PM._  
_The body was found on the ground in Mr. Psychic’s house._  
_There is one and only one wound on the body: Agatha’s skull was caved in._

Everyone looked up from their files. 

“This is awful…” Erika said. “Wh-who would do this?”

“That’s what we’re here to find out,” Giovanni said.

“Let’s split up!” Lance said. “There are thirteen of us, so seven people should split up and investigate the city, and six should look around this house,”

“Since when were you the leader?” Jessie asked. “Whatever, that plan’s as good as any.”

“The seven should go in two pairs and one group of three, to make things harder to mess up,” Blue said matter-of-factly.

“Lance, Lorelei, and I will investigate the city,” Bruno said after a moment of discussion with the two.  
“I’m stayin’ here,” Surge said. “I’m probably the most knowledgeable about corpses here…”

“I’ll stay, too,” Blaine said. “I don’t know where I’d start looking…”

“I was the first in the building, so I’ll stay,” Koga said.

“Erika, wanna look together?” Brock offered.

“S-sure!” Erika agreed, and the pair left.

“Come, Jessie. We can leave these people to their searching,” Giovanni beckoned.

“R-right! Let’s go, Boss!” Jessie followed Giovanni out.

“So, Red, Sabrina, we’re here then…” Blue said.

“Indeed…” Sabrina commented.

“Koga, you were first in the building, correct?” Blaine asked. “What was different?”

“When I entered, the cane was barring the door from opening. I had to come in through a slightly open, unlocked window.,” Koga replied.

“That would be a locked room problem, but I think you just described how the killer left…”

“Through the window!” Blue realized.

“I say Koga looks at the file,” Blue said. “Not only can it not be his, but he discovered the body, so he’s double-safe.”

“Understood,” Koga said, and he plucked the file off of the corpse. He paged through it. “Hold on…”

“Who’s is it?” Blaine asked.

“It’s Agatha’s own file,” Koga said. 

“That’s… incredibly shrewd of her, actually,” Blue admitted.

“Anything else in there?” Surge asked.

“Well, an interview with the Mahogany Gym Leader, Pryce, got blood on it, but otherwise only the outside is bloody.”

“Interesting…” Sabrina mused.

“Let’s hurry up and investigate!” Surge said. At this, they all drifted to different parts of the room to investigate.

Blue picked up the cane and showed it to Red. “D’ya think this could be the murder weapon?”

Red nodded and took it. He walked up to the corpse and compared the cane to the head wound. It was a perfect match.

“That answers that question,” Blue said. “Hey, everyone! The cane matches the head wound!”

“Makes sense…” Blaine said. “There’s no other murder weapon around.”

Koga looked up from the bloody file. “There’s not very much else of note in here, but it does mention her low physical abilities and gullibility in the page on how she’d do in the killing game. The one my file was missing.”

“That’s… odd,” Blaine mused, a few minutes later. “There really doesn’t seem to be much evidence here at the crime scene…”

“Koga, you should bring that file to the trial, just in case,” Sabrina said.

“Understood,” the ninja nodded.

“Out of curiosity, how long has this building been open?” Surge asked. 

“Since the beginning,” Sabrina said. “I found it while exploring.”

“I can verify that!” Blue said. “Red and Agatha also knew!”

“But I didn’t know, and apparently, neither did Surge!” Blaine commented. 

“Curious…” Sabrina mused.

“Well, what is there left to investigate?” Surge asked.

“Alibis,” Blue commented. “I was with Jessie at the time of the murder last night.”

“Blaine and I were together…” Surge said. 

“I can verify both of those!” Blaine commented. 

“Anyone else have-” Blue was cut off by an announcement. 

“Please, gather at the Silph Co. elevator! It’s time for the trial!” Monomime exclaimed with glee.

“But we barely got anything…” Surge said.

“We’d better go…” sighed Blue, and the six left for the trial.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the shorter chapter this time. I had no clue the Chapter 2 curse affected even fanfics.


	8. Chapter 2: Trial

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING before I begin.  
> This execution is quite gruesome. Like the execution from DR1 chapter 2 or DR2 chapter 1. Maybe more. I dunno. Just thought I should warn ya.

The group of six investigating the house met up with the seven who were investigating elsewhere.

“Did you guys find anything?” Blue asked. “We found a few things, but it was overall very little.”

“There was, quite strangely, no other evidence aside from what was in that house,” Giovanni said. 

“You six better have done a good job investigating!” Jessie said.

The trial room elevator dinged open, and the thirteen remaining Trainers filed into it. Everyone was silent as the elevator plunged deeper into the ground. It opened in the trial ground. The Trainers took their places, ready to find out the mystery of Agatha’s killer.

Monomime was standing on his chair. “First, I should probably explain the class trial! So, your votes will determine the results. If you can figure out "whodunnit" then only they will receive punishment. But if you pick the wrong one... then I'll punish everyone besides the blackened, and the one that deceived everyone else will graduate!”

“Why are you telling us all this again?” Lorelei inquired.

“No reason! Also, do you like those extra podiums?”

Misty and Agatha’s spots were occupied by photos with crude Xs, like James’s.

“Anyway, let’s begin!” Monomime clapped.

-NONSTOP DEBATE: START-

“We barely have anything…” Erika said.

“Well, what do we know?” Blaine asked. 

“We know the time of death, and where Agatha was killed…” Jessie mused.

“What about the murder weapon?” Brock asked. 

“There’s only one possibility, the cane!” exclaimed Lance.

“That must be it!”

-CONSENT: BLAINE & LANCE-

-BREAK-

“Is there any evidence for that?” Lorelei asked.

“Red compared the cane to the wound, and it matched!” Blaine stated.

“Makes sense,” Giovanni said, “What else would the wound be from?”

“That puts us no closer to discovering the killer!” Surge yelled.

-NONSTOP DEBATE: START-

“There has to be some way to narrow it down…” Bruno mused. 

“I don’t see anything!” Surge said.

“Yeah, me either!” Brock, now.

“No, you’re wrong.”

-COUNTER: SABRINA-

-BREAK-

“What do you mean?” Jessie asked.

“First of all, there’s the Body Discovery Announcement; due to that, Erika, Koga, and Blaine are innocent,” Sabrina responded.

“Correct,” Koga said, “but that still leaves ten possible killers…”

“We also know the time of death, so we can effectively gather alibis,” Sabrina responded.

“Who here has an alibi that can be backed up?” Giovanni asked.

“I was with Jessie last night!” Blue announced. 

“Yep, we were together at that time,” Jessie said.

“I was with Surge,” Blaine said, “so he is innocent.” 

Surge nodded. “Blaine’s telling the truth.”

“I was with Lance,” Lorelei said.

“Yep!” Lance verified.

“That leaves… five people without an alibi,” Giovanni said.

“You, Sabrina, Brock, Red, and Bruno,” Koga counted.

“So the murderer must be one of them!” Surge concluded.

-NONSTOP DEBATE: START-

“You’re accusing us? This is just like the last trial!” Brock said, upset.

“Face it, none of you have alibis. Unless you can prove you didn’t do it, then we have no choice but to accept you as a suspect,” Blue said.

“But what evidence would prove our innocence? We’ve already exhausted all the options,” Sabrina inquired.

“No, you’re forgetting something.”

-COUNTER: LORELEI-

-BREAK-

“Whatever could I be forgetting?” Sabrina asked.

“Well, two things, actually. The first is the locked room problem; how could the killer escape? Secondly, there is the file; surely that would lead us towards a murderer?”

“I hate to burst your bubble, but the file was Agatha’s own file,” Koga said, “So it provides no evidence as to the killer. As for the locked room, I find it obvious that the killer escaped through the window I entered from.”

“Could anyone have fit through that window?” Giovanni asked.

Koga thought, then responded. “Of our five, Bruno couldn’t; and you might have been able to, but it’s unlikely.”

Surge nodded. “So, we have four, one of which is unlikely. But, where do we go from here?”

“We should go over how the murder happened,” Blaine suggested, “Maybe that will provide a clue?”

-NONSTOP DEBATE: START-

“I think it’s obvious how it happened! The killer snuck up on Agatha, took her cane, and bashed her with it!” Brock proclaimed.

“We know that much, genius,” Blue said.

“But why was Agatha in the house to begin with?” asked Erika.

“Perhaps she was lured there by the killer?” Bruno asked.

“Or maybe she was killed somewhere else?” suggested Lance.

“Well, she had her file. Why would she have it in that house?” asked Surge.

“To hide it…?” Jessie asked.

“Maybe she was reading it?” Lorelei suggested.

“That’s correct!”

-CONSENT: BLAINE & LORELEI-

-BREAK-

“She has her room for privacy; why would she be reading her own file elsewhere?” Brock asked.

“Well,” Blaine began, “The file got blood on it when Agatha was killed, as you’d expect.”

“Yeah…” Lance said.

“If the file was closed, you’d expect the cover and the cover only, or maybe the whole file, to have blood on it, correct?”

“Uh-huh,” Jessie responded.

“But, the file had blood only on the cover and one of the pages, so she must have been reading the file at the time of her death!” Blaine concluded.

“That makes sense, but we’re still missing one piece of the puzzle… why was Agatha reading her file in that house?” Blue asked.

“How long was that place even open?” Lance asked.

“I certainly was not aware of it…” Bruno commented.

“Well, who did know it was open?” Erika asked.

“I did,” Sabrina commented. 

“I did as well, as did Red and Agatha!” Blue said. Red nodded.

“How do you know Agatha knew?” inquired Giovanni.

“I walked in on her and Red arguing in there back when we were all first exploring,” Blue responded.

“So, then, can’t we eliminate Brock?” Jessie asked. “He had no idea the location was even open…”

“The killer could have followed Agatha…” Erika pointed out.

“Well, what do we do now?” Surge asked. “We’re all out of evidence!”

“Actually… are we?” asked Giovanni. “There’s something you all overlooked that Brock pointed out earlier…”

“Me?” Brock asked.

“Yes. The fact that, despite Agatha having her room to read her file in, she chose the house… why?” Giovanni asked.

“That’s a good question…” Blue mused.

“I believe I may know the answer,” Lorelei stated.

“Yeah?” Surge asked.

“Agatha was the shrewd type. Always has been. So, it just doesn’t seem right that she’d reveal her file’s existence to us. It may have been a distraction to take attention away from her, but she’s not that smart. I think the file she had at the meeting and the file she had at her death were two different files,” Lorelei summarized.

“So… she actually had a meeting with the blackened, and they traded files, rather than her giving the one she had to them?” Lance asked.

“That… sounds plausible. Why else would she be reading an interview in the house? She was likely making sure nothing was tampered with!” Brock exclaimed.

“It also explains why the final file was never found: it was kept a secret!” Jessie exclaimed.

“So, if that’s what happened… the killer cannot be Red. He already has his file.”

“So we’re down to three, with one unlikely,” Bruno summarized. “The killer must either be Giovanni, Brock, or Sabrina.”

-NONSTOP DEBATE: START-

“But we have nothing to go on!” Surge protested.

“We’re all out of evidence… I don’t suppose you three have alibis?” asked Lorelei.

“If only we could figure out whose file was the last one…” Blue trailed off.

“We don’t even have any decisive evidence!” Blaine said.

“Actually, we do.”

-COUNTER: SABRINA-

-BREAK-

“What?” asked Brock.

“You have conclusive evidence, Sabrina?” asked Jessie.

“Yes. Earlier, when we were discussing the file, Koga mentioned that one page had blood on it, correct?” Sabrina asked.

Koga nodded. “I do believe I said that, yes.”

Sabrina continued. “But, then, after that, one person somehow knew exactly what that page held on it...Someone who shouldn't have.”

Blaine went pale. “...Brock.”

“Brock,” Sabrina continued, “you called the bloody page an interview, without Koga telling us.”

Brock was sweating. “Uh… it was a lucky guess!”

“Koga,” Sabrina asked, “what exactly was on that bloody page?”

“It was, indeed, an interview with the Mahogany Town Gym Leader, Pryce,” Koga verified. He held open the file to the page. “Here. I can prove it.”

Sabrina continued. “Not only did you guess correctly, but you also called your guess a ‘lucky guess’ before we even told you if you were correct.”

“How did you know whether my guess was correct, huh?” Brock pointed at the psychic.

Sabrina chuckled. “That’s an easy one. Koga, who did you tell about the bloody page prior to the trial?”

“Only those investigating the house with me: Blaine, Surge, Red, Blue, and you,” Koga listed.

“There you go. We have our killer,” Sabrina stated coldly. Everyone stared at her.

“Wow… she’s terrifying,” commented Blue.

“Is this Sabrina when she gets serious?” asked Jessie.

“She’s almost never like this… she tore him down and exposed him right there!” Surge asked.

“No,” Erika said. “No, I won’t accept this! You can’t accuse Brock based on- based on a lucky guess! I’m- I’m not about to watch another of my friends get executed!”

“Y-Yeah…” Brock said. 

“Face it, Brock has to be the killer!” Blue said.

“N-No he doesn’t!” Erika was quivering in her boots, ready to defend her friend at any cost.

-CONVICTION CONUNDRUM: START-

“Listen to yourself, Erika! Listen to Sabrina!” Blaine said. “Would Misty have wanted this?”

“M-Misty’s dead! And I-I’m not about to lose another friend!”

“Listen, Erika. The story fits him, and he slipped up back there-” Blue was cut off.

“There is no way! N-none! Brock- he just witnessed what happened to Misty- he wouldn’t murder!”

“Erika? Are you willing to kill all of us to save your friend?” Jessie asked.

“N-No! If w-we vote for him, we’ll all be killed! All except the r-real killer!”

Giovanni raised an eyebrow. “And who would this ‘real killer’ be?”

“S-Sabrina! She’s- she’s the most likely! Her pointing out a lucky guess could have been a distraction!”

Red merely stared defiantly at Erika. 

“Y-you! You haven’t h-helped either side at all! M-maybe y-you’re on my side? Maybe?”

Surge chuckled. “You idiot. Red doesn’t speak. Anyway, maybe if you have actual incriminating evidence, we might be more inclined to believe you.”

“T-there has been no incriminating evidence this whole t-trial! We’ve just been eliminating p-people!”

“We did get some incriminating evidence from Brock himself, however,” Lorelei rebutted.

“That ‘evidence’ w-was nowhere near incriminating! It was just a lucky guess!”

“...A lucky guess that he knew was lucky before he knew the answer? That’s unlikely,” Bruno commented.

“Unlikely, but n-not impossible!”

“I am sorry, Erika, but it is impossible. Just accept it. Your friend killed mine. That’s all there is to it.” There was an uncharacteristic coldness to Lance’s voice.

“N-no! There’s no way!”

“Erika, we discovered the body together. Don’t you trust me? The culprit was Brock. Sabrina proved it,” Koga said.

“No! She didn’t p-prove a thing!”

“Yes. Yes, I did. Now, why don’t you get out of the way? We’ve come to a conclusion. Unless… you genuinely ignored everything I was saying?” Sabrina’s voice was even more emotionless than usual.

“A- all you were telling was lies!”

There was a sigh. “Just… give it up, Erika. I killed Agatha,” Brock said, with much deliberation.

“Y- you- w-what?”

-FULL COUNTER-

-BREAK-

Brock sighed. “You heard me. I. Killed. Agatha.”

“B-but why?” Erika asked.

“I- why doesn’t someone go over the case, and I’ll fill in the details…” Brock suggested.

“Alright…” Surge said.

“I’ll do it,” Sabrina volunteered.

-CLOSING ARGUMENT(?): BEGIN-

“This case began all the way back when we first woke up here in Saffron City. There, while I had figured out it was open, Agatha woke up there. At the time, neither Red, Blue, or herself thought much of it, but it became much more relevant later… Anyway, the next part of the case happened after the end of the first trial. That was when five files, of five participants, were scattered throughout the city. Blue and I found Koga’s file, Lance found Red’s, and we found James’s as a group. Unbeknownst to us, however, Agatha found the killer’s file, and the killer found Agatha’s. They got in contact before we all regrouped, and they agreed to meet up later to trade files,” Sabrina began.

“Agatha put forth Mr. Psychic’s house as a suggestion, thinking that not many people would know to find us there…” Brock contributed.

“At our meeting after our searching, Agatha had the killer’s file on her, but the killer did not have Agatha’s. Agatha bluffed about the killer’s identity, saying that the file was someone else’s but she was keeping it a secret. Next is the secret meeting.” Sabrina finished her part, leaving Brock to explain.

“R-right. We went to the meeting as planned, and exchanged files. We both looked them over to make sure that there was no tampering. And- and then- I read- I- I read a part that just- I don’t know what came over me, but in that file… I read something awful, and it made me so mad, that she didn’t have to worry about that, so I wrenched the cane from her and… killed her with it. And- and that’s- it…”

-COMPLETE-

“Brock…” Erika sighed. “What did you read…?”

“It- it was- my family. Koga, R-Red, Jessie, did any of the files you looked over m-mention family?”

Red nodded. Jessie nodded as well. Koga, oddly, shook his head no. “Mine mentioned Janine and my dear departed wife offhandedly, but not… majorly, at all.”

Jessie spoke up. “There was a bit about James’s parents having whereabouts unknown, but I didn’t think that was important, given his hatred for them.”

“W-Well, whatever’s g-going on- out there- after we were put in here- it’s killed my family. They’re- all gone- all of them- confirmed dead- Mom, Dad, Forrest, Salvadore, Yolanda, Tommy, Cindy, Suzie, Timmy, Billy, Tilly… all of them- they’re gone- and when- and when I realized- Agatha- had- had no- no living family- I just- it's so unfair- why does she have to be- without the pain-” Brock broke down sobbing.

“Well, how emotional! Looks like it’s time to vote!” Monomime said. The Psychic Pokemon clapped his hands, and sixteen buttons appeared. It took some time, but everyone selected a person. 

“And the one who you all voted as the blackened was…” Monomime announced, “Brock, the Rock Gym Leader of Pewter City! That is correct, you guys are two for two! It’s… punishment time!”

“Farewell, all of you. I’ll be with- my family soon. Koga, Red, Giovanni, Lance, Blue… say hello to your families for me- okay? I’ll- be with mine, soon…” Brock was sobbing as a chute opened beneath him, sending him to be executed.

Like last time, a screen turned on, letting the remaining twelve watch their friend get executed. A title appeared on the screen: _Welcome… to Jurassic Cave!_

Brock found himself in a cave. There was a headlamp, so he put it on and turned it on. He looked around. There were many fossils clearly visible in the walls. Aerodactyl, Omastar, Cradily, the works. He looked around, seeing all of these fossils, and a passage ahead. As Brock walked down it, he began to see faint natural light: a passage out. He began to run for it, but he stepped on a loose stone. That stone caused him to fall, and it was sent ricocheting into the fossil of a Bastiodon. The Bastiodon’s eyes opened. The terrifying ceratopsian roared, and all sorts of fossils Pokemon, from tiny Archen to massive Tyrantrum, awoke all down the tunnel. They began to dig themselves out, seeing prey for the first time in millennia. Brock saw this and began to run for the exit. He dodged a Lileep’s Power Whip but got clipped by an Aurorus’s Ice Beam. Despite this, he continued to run. He dodged loads of attacks, got clipped by loads of others, but eventually, he made it to the entrance. Then… the wall moved. The very Bastiodon that he had awoken first stood between him and the exit. Fortunately, Bastiodon are herbivores. Unfortunately, most of the other Pokemon weren’t, and Bastiodon was perfectly content to stand there as the other fossil Pokemon caught up and devoured Brock, leaving nothing behind but bone.

The twelve remaining watched this, horrified. Erika screamed.


	9. Interlude B

“Any luck?”

“No? I’m sorry. I wish I could be there, but someone needed to stay behind…”

“I could at least make headway on the suppression field, maybe! But, you’d need to be there, which would leave this place undefended, and you and I both know we can’t have that.”

“Listen, unless you see another trainer as powerful as you or I, I need to stay here.”

“Yeah… How’s the girl holding up?”

“That’s good to hear.” The blue-haired person on the phone looked up. On the horizon, they could see a figure. Just from the way it was moving, they knew what it was. 

“Listen, I’m going to have to get back to you. It was nice talking to you, but I can see Subject 9 on the horizon. Yeah, I’ll be careful. Bye.” The Trainer hung up the phone and released three Pokemon. 

“Honchkrow. Get the others. Absol, Houndoom, with me. We need to defend this place as best we can.” 

With a caw, Honchkrow alighted, flying back towards the others. The woman glanced at her Absol, taking in its frantic gestures. “We need to go closer? Damages, I presume?” The Disaster Pokemon nodded. “Alright. Let’s go.” She strode purposefully down the mountain path, ready to defend all she held dear.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This interlude is a lot less vague but also relates to the Killing Game a lot less.


	10. Chapter 3: Daily Life

“I- I-” Erika was stuttering after her shout, while everyone else looked on in shock.

“That’s… messed up, man… he didn’t deserve that…” Surge said.

“Like last time, five files have been released!” Monomime said, snapping most of the participants out of their shock.

“Really…?” asked Jessie. “We’re supposed to just- ignore this? Misty’s was- was brutal, but that-”

“Have fun searching! Now get out of the trial room.”

Everyone made their way to the elevator, with Surge dragging Erika behind him. The veteran was one of the few who still seemed emotionally stable after that, alongside Sabrina, Lorelei, and Giovanni. Everyone else was clearly still shocked or miserable.

The instant the elevator opened, Erika sprinted out. Sabrina strode away purposefully, leaving ten people standing there.

“To prevent what happened earlier, let’s search for the files in pairs,” proposed Lorelei. 

Koga visibly composed himself. “That idea sounds- excellent. Let’s do that.”

“In that case… come, Jessie. Let us be off,” Giovanni said, already striding away. Jessie followed, still almost at her breaking point.

“I will search with Bruno,” proclaimed Lorelei. “Is that acceptable by you?”

“Yes,” Bruno responded. The pair left.

“Hey, Koga, wanna search?” Surge asked. Koga merely nodded.

Lance thought for a moment. “Red, want to go…?”

Red nodded, leaving Blaine with Blue.

“We might as well get going,” Blaine stated. 

“Got it!” Blue responded, and the pair headed off.

“So, Blue,” Blaine began.

“What is it?” Blue asked. He peered into a house, finding nothing.

“How are you doing? I heard from Jessie that you talked with her about how she’s doing, but you didn’t get the opportunity to talk about your own feelings, right?” Blaine asked, knowingly.

Blue faltered. “Well, no, but-”

“But what?” Blaine asked. “You can’t just bottle up your feelings-”

“That’s what I’ve been doing for years, and I don’t intend to stop,” Blue responded, cutting off Blaine. 

The Fire-type specialist stopped, as the two peered in the Fighting Dojo. “Years? Blue, you can’t-”

“Well, I can, I have, and I will. Now buzz off.”

“Fine, then, I suppose I’ll stop… for now. Just know, Blue, you can’t keep everything bottled up, even if you think you can.” Blaine opened the door to Saffron Gym and peered inside, spying a file. “Oh! There’s one!” 

Blue walked over and picked it up. “Blaine… it’s yours.”

“Mine?” the quizmaster asked. He took it from Blue. “Why, yes it is!” He opened it and leafed through it. 

“Nothing… bad is in there, right?” Blue asked.

After looking through the whole file, Blaine looked up. “Nope, nothing. My wife is still alive, according to this, and Cinnabar’s populace had already evacuated due to the volcano.”

“That’s good, at least,” Blue said.

As the pair was walking out of the building, something occurred to Blaine.  
“Blue, I’ve been meaning to ask you something,” Blaine smirked.

“What is it?” the former Champion asked.

“About you and Red… you seem to be spending a lot of time together both before the game and during…” Blaine postulated.

Blue blushed. “There’s- nothing going on between us! Nothing!”

Blaine bent over and laughed. “Wahaha! I was just kidding! No need to be so defensive!”

Blue was still blushing. “Oh-”

“Let’s get a move on,” Blaine chuckled, and the two left for the meeting.

Blaine and Blue arrived at the meeting and were greeted by a few others. More people showed up shortly, and soon, everyone was present except Sabrina and Erika.

“Where are the others?” Lance asked.

“Well, Erika’s probably not coming… but I don’t know where Sabrina is,” admitted Surge.

“She’ll be along shortly, I hope,” Blaine stated.

Blue glanced around. Blaine was holding his file, and Lorelei, Lance, and Surge all also had files. 

“Shall we begin?” asked Lorelei.

Red nodded.

Blaine stood up. “I’ll go first if nobody minds. Blue and I found my file.” Blaine opened it and showed the first page to prove that it was, in fact, his file. Everyone nodded assent.

Lorelei stood up next and walked over to Surge. “Bruno and I found Surge’s file, but we did not read it.”

Surge opened the file, checking that it was his. “Thanks for this,” the veteran responded.

Lance was next. “So, this is weird, but this file… isn’t about any of us. It’s about three people outside of this game.”

Several people gasped.

Lance continued. “It’s about… the absent members of the Kanto League, Karen, Will, and Janine.”

Koga stood upon hearing his daughter’s name, and the names of his two coworkers in the Elite Four. “What of them? Are they okay?”

Lance opened the file and looked. “The gist of this file is that they are okay and that they will probably try to interfere with the game. However, the file clarifies that that is impossible.”

Koga visibly relaxed. “She’s okay. They’re all okay. Oh, thank-”

Lance continued. “However, there is one thing that everyone here should know: this file reveals that Janine was originally planned to be a part of this Killing Game, but someone took her spot.”

Koga gasped. “Do you know who it was? Who saved my daughter from- from this?” He wildly gestured around the room. 

“We do not,” Lance said, sitting back down. “We still have one file holder left.”

As he spoke, the door opened. Everyone turned to look at Erika, with tear stains on her face. She clutched a file in her hands. 

“Erika!” greeted Blaine, but she ignored him. 

Erika ran past and vanished into her room. Everyone’s eyes followed her as she went. 

“So that’s where the fifth file is,” Bruno commented absently.

“We’ll have to figure out who’s it is,” Giovanni stated.

Lance handed the League members file to Koga. “Here. I think it’s only fair, given that the three people in there are your daughter and two of the other three Elite Four members you work alongside.”

Koga graciously took the file without a word. “Surge, the file we found…?” he prompted.

“Oh, uh, right.” Surge stood up. “Like Lance and Red, we also found a file of out-of-killing game people. These are… three people by the name of Archer, Ariana, and Petrel.”

Giovanni drew a sharp intake of breath. “Those wouldn't be…”

“Your executives? Yeah, they are. The file doesn’t say much, but it does say to watch out for them. They appear to be doing fine, though. Here.” Surge tossed the file at Giovanni who caught it. 

“Boss, what about Proton…?” Jessie wondered. “He’s the only one absent-”

“I don’t know, but I suppose we’ll find out sooner rather than later,” Giovanni said, stowing the file away.

“Oh, yeah!” Surge said. “One of the executives, Archer, was supposed to be in the Killing Game too, but someone took his spot as well.”

“The mastermind.”

Everyone turned to look. Sabrina was standing in the doorway.

“What?” asked Blue. “What do you mean?”

Sabrina walked in and sat down. “I believe that the mastermind replaced Archer and is one of us. Whoever they are, I just did some investigating. If they’re here, which they almost definitely are, they aren’t separate from us.”

“How do you know that?” asked Giovanni.

Sabrina yawned, before continuing. “I just did some investigating with what little psychic powers I have. They’ve been getting more potent after every murder.”

“So… the only people in this city are the twelve of us plus Monomime…” Blaine mused.

“Wait!” Jessie said. “You say you think the mastermind replaced Archer, but there were two replacements! Janine was replaced, too!”

“I highly doubt the mastermind is working alone, or just them and Monomime. It is likely that there is a third foe we need to find: a traitor.”

“So… two of us are working against the others?” Lorelei mused.

“I don’t buy it,” Blue said.

“Well, I trust Sabrina,” Surge said. “And if she’s right, I’m not comfortable being in the same room as the mastermind and their traitor!” Surge stormed off into his room.

Sabrina yawned again. “I… need some rest. I must be going.” She walked into her own room. The remaining nine looked amongst each other.

“As irritating as he is, Surge does have a point,” Lorelei admitted. “Pardon me.” She walked off.

“Yeah, Surge is right…” Lance said, walking off as well.

Most everyone else walked off as well, leaving just Jessie, Red, and Blue.

“There’s not much point in sitting around, is there?” Blue asked.

“Well, you’re not going because of Surge, right?” Jessie asked.

“Of course not!” Blue exclaimed. “I just need some rest, if that’s alright,”

Red nodded,. Blue stood up and entered his room, going to sleep.

When Blue awoke the next morning and left his room, he saw Surge and Lorelei. Surge regarded Blue with nothing more than a sour glance before stalking off. Lorelei, on the other hand, approached Blue. 

“What do you want?” he asked.

Lorelei stayed calm. “Jessie was looking for you. She said to meet her by Silph Co., so you’d better head there.”

“Oh, thanks!” Blue said. “I’d better go, then,” and he walked off, waving goodbye to Lorelei.

Blue walked up to Silph Co., spying not just Jessie, but Red and, to his surprise, Erika. Erika was clearly not doing so well. Jessie waved at Blue as he approached. 

“What’s all this about?” the former Champion asked. 

“Red and I were chatting last night, and-” Jessie began.

“Chatting?” Erika asked, quietly.

Jessie sighed. “Well, not chatting, but I was bouncing ideas off him, and we came up with an idea!”

“What is it? And what does it have to do with us?” Blue asked.

“Well,” Jessie said, “we want to hold a party!”

“A party? Why?” Blue asked. “You know not everyone will want to come…”

“That’s exactly why I’m holding it. All of this mastermind talk has everyone all riled up and distrusting each other… so this should help everyone at least try to get along!” Jessie raised an arm.

Red smiled, seeing Blue’s uncertain expression. He got up from his bench and grabbed Blue’s arm. 

“It’ll be just fine!” Jessie said. “I chose you three because you were the only three to not leave the meeting last night out of distrust. Well, you three and Sabrina, but she rejected my offer.”

“Fair enough,” Blue said. 

“Planning a party, are we?” 

The four people present whirled around to see Lorelei standing nearby.

“I want in,” she said coolly. 

“I thought you didn’t trust-” Jessie began.

“Last night, I was foolish. I thought to myself and thought I’d see why you wanted Blue so badly. This party is, in my opinion, a splendid idea.”

Blue thought. “Well, we certainly could use the help, right?” He looked to Jessie.

“...I suppose so,” she said. “Lorelei, you’re in.”

“So where do we begin?” Lorelei asked

“Timing!” Jessie said. “I was thinking tomorrow evening, so we have almost two full days to prepare.”

“Sounds good!” Blue said.

All three other preparers nodded, and this launched into a discussion between Jessie, Lorelei, and Blue about the party. Red contributed where he could, and even Erika chimed in occasionally. After a while, they had a definitive plan for the party.

“So, we’re going to have food, a quiz competition, lights…” Jessie counted. “I think that’s everything!”

“Red is making the invitations, Erika’s doing the food, you’re actually setting up the stage, I’m is doing the lights, and Lorelei’s writing the questions for the quiz show,” Blue listed off.

All four other party preparers nodded.

“Alright team, break!” Jessie exclaimed. “Blue, I’ll let you know when I’m done with the stage.” Jessie headed off. Lorelei and Red left hurriedly too, as they had more immediate jobs. Only Blue and Erika remained. Blue looked at Erika, who diverted her gaze and walked off. 

Blue walked back to the main building and relaxed for a little. Soon, Red, carrying a stack of cards from Silph Co., entered. 

“My job isn’t for a while, d’you need help?” Blue offered. Red nodded, and the two took the cards into Red’s room. They spread them out on the floor. Blue saw that Red had printed them out at the office building, and they all read the same generic invitation message. There were seven cards, each one having a name to be pencilled in. The pair got to work, filling in all seven names. Blue looked up. 

“Y’know, we haven’t been spending as much time together recently. I’m sorry for that,” the Champion confessed. 

Red nodded, patting Blue on the shoulder.

“Thanks. I’m glad we’re doing this with Jessie, though. This’ll benefit everyone, I hope.”

Red nodded. He thought for a while and then spoke. “Th-thank you,” the shy boy said.

Blue looked up in shock. “Red! Did you just-”

Red was blushing, but also bore a big grin. Blue’s mind was turning at about a million revolutions per minute. “Your selective mutism, though-”

Red blushed and nodded. He was ecstatic that he had finally managed to work up the courage to talk to someone directly, as opposed to shouting something during the first trial.

“Should I keep this secret?” Blue asked. Red nodded emphatically.

“Well, whatever. I’m glad for you that you’re being more courageous. In social situations. I know how much you prefer battling to speaking.”

Red nodded.

Something occurred to Blue. “Say, Red, are you going to participate in the quiz competition tomorrow?”

Red shook his head. While he did speak the answers in Blaine’s gym all that time ago, this was in front of people.

“Ah, that’s cool,” Blue said. “Say, Jessie’s probably waiting on those invitations. You should probably deliver them.”

Red stood up, his hat falling off, seven cards clutched in his hand. Blue plopped Red’s hat on his head. 

“It was nice talkin’ to ya, Red. Smell ya later!” Blue waved as Red went to deliver the invitations. Jessie was waiting in the main lobby. “Blue, you can go work on the electronics now. I finished on the stage.”

Blue flashed her a thumbs-up. He looked around and noticed Giovanni enter Sabrina’s room discreetly.

“Strange…” he noted. He left for Silph Co.

There, he picked up some speakers, microphones, and buzzers and delivered them to the stage near the train station. Some lights soon followed, and Blue got to work rigging them up. It was tough, especially given Blue’s relative lack of experience with electronics, but he eventually got the lights to function.

“Good job.”

Blue spun around to see Koga, observing his handiwork. “You scared me, Koga!”

The ninja laughed. “I’m sorry, Blue. I received my party invitation and decided to come check on the preparations. Do you need any help with the rest of that?”

Blue shook his head. “No, thank you. I can do the rest myself.”

“Well, would you permit me to watch, at least for a little while?” Koga asked.

“...Sure,” Blue said, returning to work.

Koga observed for a bit, before commenting. “You know, Surge could probably-”

“Isn’t Surge avoiding everyone?” Blue arched a brow.

“You’re right, pardon me. I suppose that just because I resolved to focus on the positives, not everyone would,” Koga commented.

“At least Lorelei is,” Blue said. 

“That’s good,” Koga said. “I do have more positives than most, though.”

“Your daughter?” Blue asked.

“Yes, Janine. You and she became Gym Leaders at about the same time, did you not?”

Blue nodded. “Yes, we did. Falkner in Johto also tried out for the position alongside us, replacing his father.”

“Oh, yes,” Koga nodded. “Walker is a good man. I wonder how he and his son are doing now?”

Blue thought. “I hope they’re doing okay, given that something terrible apparently happened to the outside.”

Koga nodded assent. “Well, if my daughter, Karen, Will, and those three Rockets can live, I’m sure they can.”

Blue thought. “Well, how outdated are these files?”

Koga inhaled. “You don’t think that any of them are-”

Blue hastily put his hands up. “No, I think they’re fine. But, if something terrible happened to Johto-”

“I don’t want to think about it. Pardon me,” Koga said, walking off.

Blue stared after him. “Whoops… I’ll make it up to him later.” The Viridian Gym Leader got back to work, hooking up the buzzers. By the time he finished, it was past dark.

“Ugh, I should get going,” Blue said, walking off towards the Pokemon Center to get some rest. As he went near the road to Silph Co., he heard a voice and hid around the corner. The voice was Monomime’s.

“So, she’s dead? You checked?” the Psychic Pokemon asked.

Blue stared around the corner, staying dead silent. There was the silhouette of Monomime in the streetlights, along with the silhouette of-

It couldn’t be. They were the traitor?

The traitor’s voice responded. “Yes, Sabrina is dead. I made sure that she did not survive the strangulation.”

Monomime chuckled. “Good. The boss will be very happy…”

Blue felt his blood run cold. The traitor was- Sabrina was- The mastermind was really-

He shook all those thoughts out of his head and continued to observe. 

The traitor seemed perturbed by something. “You have made sure that I won’t be executed tomorrow after the trial, right?”

“Of course!” Monomime responded, and he surveyed the nearby area. Blue slid back behind the corner, hoping the host hadn’t noticed him.

Monomime, in fact, had noticed him. “Hey, there’s a spy over there,” he pointed out. “Just thought I should tell you. The boss will likely want him dead for knowing your identity as the traitor, and he will likely want you dead for being the traitor.”

The traitor realized this and began to run towards Blue. Blue panicked, turned, and ran. The traitor was going to kill him! Blue didn’t even look where he was running, but he ended up just around the corner from the Pokemon Center. He prepared to continue running for his life when he felt something hit him in the back of his head. From there, everything went black…


	11. Chapter 3: Deadly Life

Lance was an early riser. He always had been, due to his training in Blackthorn City. This morning, he was hoping to reconcile with the others and was looking forwards to attending the party later. He left his room and spied Erika hard at work preparing for the party. Lance was glad she had found something to do to distract herself from the grief of losing two dear friends. Also present were Blaine and Koga, holding a light conversation. It seemed to Lance that most everyone, barring Surge and Giovanni, were trying to get back in the rhythm of trust. 

“Even the prospect of a party did that much,” Lance mused. “Good morning, you two!”

Blaine waved, and Koga beckoned Lance over. “Good morning to you, too!” remarked Blaine. 

“We were just sharing stories of some of our favorite and least favorite challengers,” Koga said. “Do you want to join?”

Lance smiled. “I’d love to!” He put a hand on his chin. “But, first… who has woken up so far?”

“Just to keep track, right?” Koga said. Lance nodded. “In that case, Surge came through a little while ago and went who-knows-where, and Bruno went out for his morning jog.”

“Plus us three and Erika, that makes six,” Lance mused. “I’m surprised we haven’t seen Sabrina yet, though.”

“Speaking of Sabrina,” Koga said, “I saw something suspicious last night, after returning from checking on Blue.”

Blaine leaned in. “Oh? Do tell.”

“I saw Giovanni discreetly exit her room,” Koga responded, bearing a grim expression on his face.

“Giovanni? Why would he be in Sabrina’s room?” Lance asked. He glanced over at the room, only to notice something.

“How’d he even get in?” Blaine asked. “Sabrina doesn’t seem to be the type to forget to lock her door…”

Lance put up a hand. “You say she didn’t lock her door, but maybe she just left it open. It still is open, in fact.” The Dragon user pointed, and the other two noticed that Sabrina’s door was slightly ajar. 

“That… doesn’t seem like something she would miss.” Koga noted.

Blaine looked worried. “You don’t suppose something’s happened to her, right?”

Lance felt his heart grow heavy. “We should check, at least.” He got up and jogged over to the door, Blaine and Koga at his heels. Erika turned to observe them, but stayed silent. Lance opened the door and went into the room. The lights were out, but even in the darkness, the trio could see one thing: a body. 

“Is she asleep, or is she-” Blaine began to ask but was cut off by something.

“A body has been discovered! Everyone, report to the main room of the Pokemon Center!” Monomime’s grating voice came.

Koga found the light switch and flipped it, and the trio could see Sabrina’s body in full detail. Sabrina’s eyes were open, but they were clouded over. There were lots of thin bruises around her neck, but no blood anywhere. She no longer breathed, signifying that she was dead. 

Lance, Blaine, and Koga exited Sabrina’s room to view quite a sight. Erika was trembling, and Jessie, Lorelei, Red, and Giovanni had all exited their rooms. Upon the trio’s return to the main room, Jessie dashed up to them. “Why were you three in there? Is- Is it-”

Koga nodded, gravely. “I am afraid Sabrina is no longer with us.”

Erika, Jessie, and Red gasped. Lorelei and Giovanni remained silent, but Lorelei lowered her head. 

Giovanni, however, had other things in mind. “Where are Blue, Bruno, and Surge?” the businessman inquired.

At that moment, Bruno burst through the door. “Everyone, come with me. I’ve… found a second body.”

Several people gasped. 

“A second body…?” Koga said. 

“Where, Bruno?” Lance asked.

“I didn’t notice earlier because I turned left on my jog, but it’s Blue. He’s to the right here.”

Everyone dashed out of the building and turned right. Blue was lying face down near the corner, far enough away that Bruno would not have conceivably seen him because he went left. Everyone, Red at the front, ran up. Blue bore a wound on the back of his head, but nothing more. His room key was clutched in his hand. 

Everyone waited anxiously for the announcement, but it never came. 

“No announcement?” Jessie asked. “So… he’s alive!”

Bruno knelt down and picked up Blue, his room key falling to the pavement. “Let’s put him in his room and hope he wakes up soon,” the Elite Four member said.

Red grabbed the room key and led Bruno away, the remaining seven following behind. Then, Surge showed up.

“Where’ve you been?” asked Jessie.

“I was on my way! Who’s dead?” Surge asked.

“Sabrina,” Blaine said simply.

“Well, where’s the body?” the Vermilion Gym Leader asked.

“It’s inside,” Lance said, “But Bruno found another body on the corner. Care to explain why you didn’t see it?”

“I turned away from the corner this morning!” Surge said.

“Like Bruno, then?” Lorelei asked.

“Let’s just stop quibbling. Blue’s alive, and we need to reunite with Bruno and Red to get the Monomime file,” Koga said.

“R-right,” Lance said. “Let’s go.”

The group of eight made their way back inside the building, where Bruno and Red were waiting. 

“Monomime appeared and took Blue away to give him treatment,” Bruno stated. 

“Yep! I did!” Monomime appeared. “He’ll be just fine… but, really, that was a shoddy murder job, whoever killed him! He’s just unconscious, not dead!”

“Will he be okay?” Jessie asked.

“It’s just a head wound. You all have bigger Remoraid to fry, though! Now that you’re all here, you can investigate Sabrina’s murder!” Monomime said, teleporting several files into his hands. He handed them out. “Here’s your Monomime file! Keep in mind, you do not need to find the identity of Blue’s attacker, just Sabrina’s murderer!”

“You mean they might be… separate?” Bruno asked.

“Maybe they are, maybe they aren’t. I can’t say! Blue is exempt from this trial, now get to investigating!” Monomime disappeared, leaving the ten participants alone. 

“Let’s look at the Monomime file, first of all,” Blaine suggested. 

_The victim is Sabrina, the Gym Leader of Saffron City._  
_The time of death was approximately 9:00 PM._  
_The body was found in the victim’s room._  
_The only wounds on the body are many bruises on the neck._

“How do we want to split this up?” Jessie asked.

“What do you mean?” asked Lance. “We have only one thing to investigate.”

“...Jessie may have a point, however,” Blaine said. “In Sabrina’s room, nothing was amiss or askew aside from, well… her door being open, and Sabrina herself being dead. No murder weapon, no blood…”

“So, you think the murder might have evidence elsewhere?” Giovanni asked.

“Well, not just that,” Jessie confessed. “Given the timing of the murder… The attack on Blue was almost definitely involved somehow.”

“What do you mean? Monomime said that we don’t have to investigate Blue,” Lance said.

“No, Jessie’s right,” Koga contributed. “Blue was out late dealing with the setup for the party. I believe I was the last to see him, and I arrived back here at about 8:45.”

“So, do you think, Blue was attacked on his way back?” Lorelei inquired.

“That makes sense,” Jessie admitted. “I also saw something incriminating yesterday, but I’m going to save that for the trial.”

“Interesting… Let’s split up,” Blaine said. “Koga, Lance, myself, Jessie, and Surge can investigate Sabrina, while the other five can investigate Blue.”

“Sounds good,” Jessie said, and the others all nodded assent. 

“Let’s get to it, then,” Lance said, heading into Sabrina’s room. The other four all followed him.

The five filed into the room, noticing one thing immediately: nothing was amiss.

“There’s… no murder weapon, no murder, no evidence of anything aside from Sabrina herself,” Jessie said.

Surge peered at the body. “Clouded eyes and those bruises… Sabrina was strangled in her sleep.”

“And why exactly are you helping us?” Jessie asked. “Didn’t you not trust us?”

“For your information, if I don’t help, we’ll all die,” Surge rebutted.

“Settle down,” Koga said. “Surge, you mentioned her sleep? Strangulation takes far too long… are you sure?”

“There’s no evidence of anything else,” Surge huffed. “Unless you want to claim the injury is invisible…”

“What else can we investigate?” Lance asked. 

“I will go search for a murder weapon,” Koga decided. “Blaine, do you want to accompany me?”

“That sounds like a great idea, Blaine said, leaving.

“If Sabrina’s door was locked, how did the culprit get inside?” Jessie asked.

Lance went over to the door. “The door doesn’t seem to have been tampered with…”

Something caught Jessie’s eye. “What if it wasn’t the door?” Jessie asked. She knelt down and tore a piece of duct tape off the strike plate. “If this was here… the door couldn’t shut or lock, right?”

Lance looked at it. The duct tape looked deformed like the latch bolt and deadbolt had been pressing into it. However, the hole from the latch bolt looked a lot more indented. “Jessie, do me a favor. Look where the deadbolt goes, please.”

The Rocketeer complied. She looked in the hole and noticed something. “There's some more duct tape in here… wadded up. With this here and the other duct tape over it… her door couldn’t lock.”

Surge, having finished investigating the body, came over. “And she wouldn’t notice it, because even with the duct tape, the door would still lock. Only the wadded up tape prevented it, and she couldn’t see it.”

“But when did the culprit place this here?” Jessie asked. 

“Likely when none of the rest of us were around,” Lance said. “We’ll deal with that at the trial… but why didn’t Sabrina notice?”

“She had been preoccupied ever since the previous trial; I’d be willing to bet she didn’t leave or enter her room very much at all,” Jessie said.

“She didn’t seem like the type to just miss that sort of thing…” Surge said.

The trio searched a little more, turning up nothing. 

“Nothing here… it’s almost like she wasn’t murdered,” Lance said.

“But, she clearly was,” Surge said. 

“Jessie, what did you notice earlier?” Lance asked. “We have extra time to discuss it.”

The pink-haired woman looked conflicted. “I… won’t say. Especially since I am not certain if it means anything. What I can say is that Blue was out to help prepare for the party. I came back at about… 7:30ish to 8, I’d say. Blue went out at about that time to set up the lights.”

“But we don’t have a timing for Blue’s attack, since he isn’t dead,” Lance commented. “This’ll be a difficult trial.”

Almost as if Lance jinxed it, Monomime’s voice rang out. “Now… all of you please gather at the elevator! It’s trial time!”

“We’d better go,” Jessie said, and the trio left for the third trial.


	12. Chapter 3: Trial

Jessie, Surge, and Lance arrived at the Silph Co. ground floor. Koga, Blaine, Lorelei, and Bruno were all present. Soon, Giovanni, Red, and Erika arrived, and the group of ten filed into the elevator. 

“It was thirteen last time…” mused Lorelei. “Now we’re down to ten so quickly. At least Blue isn’t dead.”

“We’ll still have ten after this trial,” Blaine responded. “Assuming Blue’s recovery goes well, that is.”

“Well, Monomime promised that he would be taken care of, right?” Jessie asked.

“I don’t trust that Pokemon as far as I can throw him,” Surge huffed.

“If there’s anything that Monomime excels in, it’s the rules,” Bruno pointed out. “I don’t think he’ll renege on his promise.”

Red merely stood silent with worry as the elevator descended further.

“I find it hard to believe that one of us is a killer again,” Lance said. “After all, there’s no motive… nothing’s changed since the last time.”

“Something clearly has,” Giovanni pointed out dryly. “Nothing is done without a motive.”

“L-like what?” Erika asked, weakly. She hadn’t been particularly close to Sabrina, but another death so soon after the other two shocked her to her core.

“That’s what we’re here to find out,” Koga said, and the doors dinged open.

The trial room looked the same as it had the last two times. Brock and Sabrina’s podiums now had stands with crossed-out portraits, and Blue’s had a portrait that lacked the X.

“Do I need to explain the rules again?” Monomime asked. “I don’t think so! Have at it! Remember, you’re investigating Sabrina’s murder, not the attack on Blue. He wasn’t killed, so his attacker does not need to be found!”

“I think that’s simple enough,” Koga stated. “We examine Sabrina’s murder first, and then fall back on the attack if we run out of avenues of discussion.”

“So, let’s discuss the murder,” Jessie said. “We know the time of death, and the cause is strangulation…”

“With what weapon?” Lorelei asked.

“We… didn’t find any,” Blaine admitted.

-NONSTOP DEBATE: START-

“No murder weapon… so the killer disposed of it really well?” Bruno asked.

“That’s impossible! We searched everywhere!” Koga rebutted.

“But there was limited time in the investigation… maybe the killer hid it in a place you never found,” Lorelei responded.

“That’s a possibility…” Lance mused. 

“I’m certain we would have found it!” Blaine responded, hotly.

“There’s a simple explanation,” Giovanni responded. “What if… there was no weapon?”

“Yeah, that’s right!”

-CONSENT: SURGE & GIOVANNI-

-BREAK-

“How do you know?” Jessie inquired.

“It’s simple,” Surge stated. “You and I both saw the body. The cause of death was strangulation, we’ve already gone over that.”

Red nodded, following along.

“There were many long, thin bruises around the neck. With strangulation, the bruises resemble the shape of the weapon,” Surge said.

“...Fingers,” realized Lance.

“H-How strong do you need to be to strangle someone?” Erika spoke up.

“Not very, if you know how,” Surge said. 

Lance nodded in agreement. “I’d be willing to bet anyone trained in hand-to-hand combat would be able to.”

“That doesn’t change much,” Lorelei idly noted. “Any of us could have learned it without the others knowing.”

Lance conceded that point. “I would presume Bruno, Jessie, Surge, Koga, and maybe even Giovanni would have hand-to-hand training, with the other half of us definitely being capable of learning.”

“I suppose alibis are in order, then,” Giovanni said.

“Well, I was checking in on Blue just before the murder, and returned shortly before it,” Koga said. “However, there are two people I am concerned with who I saw engaging in suspicious activity: Surge and Giovanni.”

Surge crossed his arms, and Giovanni arched an eyebrow. 

“Surge was out of his room until late last night,” Koga said.

“Yeah, I didn’t want to be in the same building as the mastermind!” Surge stated defensively.

“Giovanni’s issue is a lot more incriminating: Just prior to the murder, I saw him exit Sabrina’s room.”

-NONSTOP DEBATE: START-

“So… t-that’s it? It was G-Giovanni?” Erika asked.

“No! I refuse to believe that!” Jessie yelled.

“I do admit, it does look bad, but-” Giovanni began.

“Bad? This is downright incriminating!” Surge yelled.

“No, it isn’t.”

-COUNTER: GIOVANNI-

-BREAK-

“Can you prove that you didn’t do it?” Lorelei asked.

Giovanni merely smirked. “I had my reasons for being there, but they were not murderous, I assure you.”

“That’s not proof,” Bruno responded.

“Koga stated I left the room when he arrived back, yet Koga came back prior to the murder,” Giovanni said. “Is that not proof enough for you?”

“I suppose it is,” Lance responded.

“Well, now we haven’t gotten anywhere!” Jessie complained.

“Actually, something’s been bothering me,” Blaine admitted. “If Sabrina was strangled, why was she still asleep?”

-NONSTOP DEBATE: START-

“You’re right,” Lance admitted. “That doesn’t make much sense.”

“So… did Surge lie?” Jessie asked. “Is he our culprit?”

Surge pointed a finger. “Listen here. I don’t know why she was still asleep, but I didn’t murder anyone.”

“But strangulation isn’t instant. She should have woken up!” Blaine protested.

“Maybe not.”

-COUNTER: KOGA-

-BREAK-

“Hm? How would she have remained asleep?” Sabrina asked.

“Well, remember how she was acting at our meeting?” Koga asked.

“She wasn’t there very much,” Lorelei said, “But while she was there she lectured us about the traitor and mastermind, right?”

Koga nodded. “Not just that. She also yawned several times, something I’ve never seen Sabrina do. Right after she claimed she used her psychic abilities a lot, too.”

Blaine made an ‘ah’ of realization. “Psychic burnout, of course.”

“What’s that?” Jessie asked.

“If a psychic overexerts themselves in regard to their psychic powers, they will suffer from psychic burnout,” Giovanni stated. “While burned out, they are exhausted at lower levels, like Sabrina had at the meeting, but are forced into sleep at higher levels.”

“So… Sabrina used her powers a lot and ended up exhausted,” Bruno postulated.

“But… with the suppression fields, anything that was normally just slightly difficult would become incredibly difficult, likely causing burnout,” Lorelei stated.

“Was Sabrina doing more investigation?” Lance asked.

“No,” Giovanni said. “I know what she did.”

“...What was it?” Jessie asked.

“I can’t say,” the Ground specialist replied.

“You have to!” Surge said. “We need this information!”

“It is entirely irrelevant,” Giovanni said. “We still have other facts to address.”

“...Do we?” Koga asked. “I can’t think of anything…”

“That tape still hasn’t been talked about,” Jessie realized.

“Tape?” Lorelei asked. 

“Yeah,” Lance said. “There was tape over Sabrina’s strike plate.”

-NONSTOP DEBATE: START-

“With the tape there, Sabrina’s door couldn’t shut or lock!” Jessie said.

“There’s no way that’s the case!” Blaine said. 

“I agree with Blaine,” Lorelei said. “Sabrina would have noticed it there.”

“She would, but-” Jessie began.

“Not just that,” Koga said. “The tape wouldn’t have fully prevented the door from shutting or locking!”

“No, that’s wrong!”

-COUNTER: LANCE-

-BREAK-

“How?” Bruno inquired. “If the tape was over the strike plate…”

“There was more tape balled up behind the first piece,” Lance responded. 

“That still doesn’t explain why Sabrina wouldn’t have noticed,” Lorelei said.

“She probably did notice,” Jessie admitted, “but she was probably too tired to think about it at the moment.”

-NONSTOP DEBATE: START-

“If she left her room at all, though, she would have noticed!” Surge claimed.

“She didn’t leave her room all of yesterday afternoon, so the only time for the killer to place the tape subtly was…” Lance began.

“Maybe the day before, while we were searching for the files?” Jessie suggested.

“W-What about yesterday morning?” Erika asked.

“That’s it!” 

-CONSENT: KOGA & ERIKA-

“It can’t have been in the morning because we were mostly in pairs, barring Erika and Sabrina, and someone would have seen them with duct tape,” Koga said.

“Erika’s still a suspect, though!” Surge said.

“I’ll come back to that,” Koga responded. “For now, if we assume it was in the morning… Almost everyone had split off, suspicious of each other.” 

“So… someone could place it while Sabrina was out, and nobody would see,” Giovanni deduced.

“But Erika’s still a suspect!” Surge complained.

-NONSTOP DEBATE: START-

“The morning makes far more sense,” Blaine said.

“Do you really think that she would murder someone so soon after losing two good friends to the same thing?” Jessie asked.

“She might,” Surge said. “After all, she doesn’t even have an alibi!”

“I do!!”

-COUNTER: ERIKA-

-BREAK-

“Really? Why didn’t you mention that?” Bruno asked.

“I-I was with Lorelei at the time of the murder!” Erika claimed. “W-We were fetching ingredients for the party!”

“She is correct,” Lorelei said. “We were together at that time.”

Giovanni quirked an eyebrow. “And why didn’t you bring this up earlier?”

“It’s simple,” Lorelei responded. “She needs to stand up for herself, rather than keeping quiet. If things really got dire, I’d bring it up, but I figured it would be better to let her do the talking.”

“Anyway, now Lorelei and Erika must be innocent, so the tape must have been placed in the morning!” Jessie said.

“Lance, Koga, and myself were immune from the announcement, Lorelei and Erika backed each other up, and Koga backed up Giovanni,” Blaine recapped. “So the murderer must be either Red, Jessie, Blue, Bruno, or Surge!”

-NONSTOP DEBATE: START-

“Blue?” asked Surge. “Why Blue?” 

“Monomime said the killer and his attacker could be separate, so Blue could have murdered Sabrina,” Blaine explained.

“That’s impossible!”

-COUNTER: JESSIE-

-BREAK-

Lance looked at Jessie. “How is that impossible?”

“Well,” the pink-haired grunt began, “Myself, Lorelei, Erika, Red, and Blue were planning the party all morning, so none of us could have placed the tape!”

“Lorelei and Erika were already safe…” Koga began.

“So we can eliminate Jessie, Blue, and Red from being the killer,” Lorelei summarized.

“Therefore… it’s down to Surge and Bruno,” Lance said. “One of them murdered Sabrina.”

“I didn’t do it!” Surge said hotly.

“Well, neither did I…” Bruno said. 

“Do we even have any more evidence to go over?” Jessie asked.

“I… don’t think so,” Lance admitted.

“So, we now must discuss Blue’s attack,” Giovanni said.

“I was the last one to see Blue, if it helps,” Koga contributed. “I saw him right before returning to the Pokemon Center.”

“He was out doing some party prep,” Jessie supplied. 

“Wait a second…” Blaine realized. “If Koga was the last one to see Blue, and he arrived at the Pokemon Center just prior to the murder…”

“Then nobody saw him after the murder, aside from his attacker,” Lance realized. 

“Up until Bruno discovered him earlier, that is,” Lorelei said.

“That makes me think of something…” Jessie said. “Weren’t those two both late to the Body Discovery Announcement, and weren’t the two of them those who went outside and ignored the body?”

“I didn’t ignore the body, I just didn’t see it,” Surge said.

“I didn’t see it until the way back, where I came and got all of you,” Bruno said.

“If one of them murdered Sabrina, and Blue was outside… Blue probably saw the killer with incriminating evidence!” Koga said.

-NONSTOP DEBATE: START-

“But we’ve already established that there was no evidence…” Bruno said. 

“Not if Blue saw the killer destroying it!” Jessie said.

“Well, we don’t have the weapon that attacked Blue, either!” Surge reminded them.

“What do we have about the body…” Koga mused.

“His wound was quite similar to the one that brought down Agatha, just not nearly as strong,” Blaine said.

“So, the weapon was likely a large, blunt object,” Lance concluded.

“B-But we couldn’t find anything like that that had been used!” Erika said.

“That’s wrong.”

-COUNTER: GIOVANNI-

-BREAK-

“What?” Bruno asked.

“I know the murder weapon,” Giovanni said. “It’s really quite simple.”

“Explain it, then!” Surge said.

“Fists,” Giovanni revealed. “Sabrina was murdered with the killer’s bare hands, so why wouldn’t that be the case here?”

“Fists are a large, blunt object…” Jessie realized. 

“If the weapon is someone's fists, then the killer must be Bruno, right?” Blaine asked.

Bruno clenched a fist. “I didn’t do it.”

“Can you prove it?” Surge asked.

-NONSTOP DEBATE: START-

“Bruno discovered Blue this morning,” Lorelei said. “Why would he show him to us?”

“He could be trying to prove his innocence,” Koga said.

“I thought Blue was dead,” Bruno said. “If I discovered him and showed him to you, the announcement would have proven my guilt.”

“Your charade ends here.”

-COUNTER: GIOVANNI-

-BREAK-

“W-What?” Bruno asked.

“You claim the announcement would have proven your guilt,” Giovanni began, “but you beckoned everyone here except Surge. With nine people, the announcement would not have proven anyone’s innocence.”

“I-” Bruno began.

“That’s enough!” Lance said. 

-NONSTOP DEBATE: START-

“You’ve gone on and on about how it was definitely Bruno, but we still have no proof proving it wasn’t Surge! He was keeping to himself all of yesterday!” Lance said.

“I was suspicious of everyone else,” Surge responded.

“Admittedly, that isn’t an excuse,” Lorelei said.

“We have no evidence disproving Surge, we can’t just dogpile Bruno,” Jessie admitted.

“T-There is evidence!”

-COUNTER: ERIKA-

-BREAK-

“There is? What is it?” Lorelei asked.

“W-well, Blue had his room k-key in his hand. Why?” Erika pointed out.

“Because he was running, probably,” Blaine realized. “And I’ve seen Blue. He isn’t slow.”

“So the killer must have been able to outrun Blue…” Jessie stated.

“And I know I couldn’t,” Surge said. “Bruno’s way faster than I am.”

“So that’s it,” Lorelei said. 

“You’re-” Bruno was cut off.

“There’s no way!” Lance said. “I’m not going to stand here and let Bruno be falsely accused again!”

“Listen, Lance-” Koga said.

Lance refused to listen. “I don’t need to hear it! It’s just going to be more circumstantial evidence that doesn’t actually apply!”

-CONVICTION CONUNDRUM: START-

“Lance, we did the deductions as a group! You can’t deny them!” Blaine said.

“Looking back, we were mistaken about a lot of things!”

“Such as?” Giovanni inquired.

“The- the murder weapon, for one!”

“We never found anything else that could fit!” Jessie said.

“Maybe it was disposed of!” 

“L-Lance, you sound… like m-me,” Erika said. 

“What do you mean? I’m trying to help you reach the truth, you were defending a murderer!”

“You’re defending a murderer, too!” Surge yelled.

“Big words from Sabrina’s killer and Blue’s attacker!” 

“Bruno and I are the only ones who could catch up to Blue, and I was present for Sabrina’s BDA,” Koga said. “It has to be Bruno.”

“Can you prove that?”

Red stared Lance down.

“We can prove it, right Red? You know how fast Blue is!”

“Listen, Lance, Bruno did it. I know you don’t want to accept it, but he did,” Lorelei said.

“I don’t have to accept it if he didn’t do it,” Lance responded.

Bruno took a breath. “But I did do it.”

“You- what?

-FULL COUNTER-

-BREAK-

“I did it, I murdered Sabrina,” Bruno admitted.

“You killed her?” Jessie asked, shocked.

“I always saw you as the honorable type…” Giovanni mused.

“W-why?” Lance asked.

Bruno looked down, and then when he looked up, his eyes had taken on a yellowish appearance, and he wore a strangely happy expression. 

“The boss ordered me to! I’m finally useful… I’m so happy I could be useful to you!” Bruno looked like not himself.

Surge and Koga, standing next to Bruno, both took a step away.

“What the hell…?” Surge asked.

“What’s wrong, Bruno?” Lance asked.

“What’s wrong?” Bruno said. “Nothing’s wrong, Lance! I’m just being useful for the first time in my pitiful life!”

“Pitiful- What?” Lorelei asked.

“Why did you murder Sabrina?” Koga asked.

“The boss ordered me to, of course!” Bruno clasped his hands together, and turned to Monomime, as his podium was directly in front of Monomime’s seat. “So, now I get to join you, right?”

Monomime chuckled. “Not yet, Bruno. The trial isn’t finished!”

Bruno turned back around. “So, is it time to vote?”

“Uh, not yet…” Jessie said. “Usually someone goes over the case at the end before we vote, right?”

Red nodded his assent.

“Wh-who will do that?” Erika asked.

“I will if it’ll mean I’ll help you understand the case!” Bruno suggested.

“What the hell is wrong with you?” Lance asked. “You’re acting totally different!”

“Different? Oh, you mean how I appear to be acting differently? I’m actually acting the same, you just never saw this side of me to this degree!” Bruno said, cheerfully.

“Interesting…” Lorelei mused. “As for the case summary?”

“Right, that!” Bruno said.

-CLOSING ARGUMENT(?): BEGIN-

“So, not too long after the previous trial, I received orders from the boss by way of Monomime of a way to make myself useful. Sabrina was being terribly inquisitive, and she was getting in the boss’s way!”

“Who is this… boss? Does this mean you’re the traitor?” Koga asked.

“Yes, I’m the traitor. The boss is the mastermind, of course!”

“Do you know who-” Surge began.

“I do, but I can’t say! Back to the case. I took these orders to heart, and when everyone was off on their own, I took the opportunity to fetch duct tape from the Pokemart and place it over that strike plate. I balled up some more tape and put it in first. Later that evening, when I had the opportunity after Sabrina was left alone, I went into her room and strangled her.”

“One thing’s been bothering me,” Blaine admitted. “How were you not heard on your way into your room?”

“More tape, on my own strike plate. Anyway, after being useful, I went back outside. I reported my success to Monomime, who noticed that someone was spying on our conversation. He told me that the boss would likely want me to make sure the intruder didn’t spread my identity to you, so I was useful again and chased down the spy! I attacked him on the corner and assumed he was dead. I came back later that night after washing my hand and pretended to sleep. I got up and went for my morning jog, and pretended to ‘discover’ Blue on my way back. I got more than three people to help with the announcement easily, just in case. I didn’t expect him to survive. I’m sorry for that, Boss.”

-COMPLETE-

-BREAK-

“So… that’s it?” Lance asked, his voice hollow. “You were the traitor… and you murdered Sabrina?”

“I wouldn’t call it murder, per se,” Bruno said. “Just… making myself useful, carrying out the boss’s wishes.”

“You were already useful!” Lorelei protested. “To all of us!”

“No, I wasn’t. I haven’t ever been useful…” Bruno said.

“I hate to interrupt, but it’s time to vote!” Monomime exclaimed. He clapped his hands, and sixteen buttons appeared again.

“And the one who you all voted as the blackened was…” Monomime announced, “Bruno, the Fighting member of the Indigo Elite Fours, both old and new!”

“Well, I suppose it’s time to join Monomime,” Bruno said.

“Is- is he not being executed?” Jessie asked.

“Oh, he is,” Monomime says. 

Bruno’s happy expression vanished. “...What?”

“Yeah, Bruno, I have a message from the mastermind for you!” Monomime gleefully said. “You made an excellent… pawn.”

Bruno seemed a lot less crazy now. “But you promised-”

Monomime was ignoring Bruno. “It’s… punishment time!”

Bruno was almost crying. “Boss, you promised you wouldn’t execute me! We- we did this together, you can’t just-” 

Bruno was cut off by a chute opening below him, sending him below the trial room. His last view was of the faces of the nine people remaining. Some were sad, others angry… but one face hid undertones of smugness. Only Bruno noticed the treachery on his Boss’s face as he hurtled down the chute to his execution.

Like before, a title appeared on a screen: _Extreme Battlefield Brawl!_  
Bruno found himself on a familiar-looking rough rock bridge over a river. This was his extreme battlefield on Cerise Island…  
Two Onix (although Bruno didn’t know if these were Onix or just fakes) bridging a river of Victreebel acid.  
Bruno stood at one side of the room, against the one-way viewing window. There was an exit on the other side, but several Fighting Pokemon streamed into the room and began charging across the bridge. Bruno deftly dodged and struck off a Machop and tripped a Primeape, but that’s when things began to get bad. He took a strike from a Poliwrath and was sent flailing by a Breloom. He continued fighting, though. Soon, he had knocked all of the Fighting Pokemon off except for one: a Hitmonlee. Bruno bore wounds all across his body, but he was still standing. He was favoring one leg, however. He dashed across the Onix bridge, towards the Hitmonlee standing between him and the exit. However, as he tried to leap around the Kicking Pokemon, it shot out its leg, and Bruno tripped over it. He hurtled into the acid below, where he melted to his death.

As the screen clicked off, the others watched in horror.


	13. Interlude C

Click.  
“Report 4… Subject 7 is still proceeding towards the city at an alarming rate. I’d estimate that the group has a week, at best, before Subject 7 reaches them and kills them. Recently, the psychic suppression field has continued-”

“Hey! Ariana! Are you in here?”

“I’m recording a report, please don’t interrupt me.”

“Well, the psychic suppression field… it's changed.”

“How much?”

“I don’t know. You’d better come.”

“Alright, let me just-”  
Click.

Click.  
“Where was I… right. The psychic suppression field is now only blocking outside interference, which suggests that Sabrina has, unfortunately, met her demise. It is unknown how many remain alive aside from her, but it is likely that one other is or will soon be dead. We are hopeful that she managed to tell her information to someone else, but it is unknown if she did. Preparations for the mission are going well. We are waiting for our window of opportunity. Hopefully, it comes soon, but not before that boy wakes up. This has been the fourth report. Ariana, signing off.”  
Click.


	14. Chapter 4: Daily Life

There were several emotions on the faces of the eight participants in the room. Shock, horror, contempt, and even a bit of sympathy mingled together. All anyone could do was stare.

Monomime was the one to break the silence. “The trial’s over!” he called. “No files this time, because you all need to be present for the files to get released! And it seems you’re missing someone…”

“You took Blue,” Giovanni responded. “You know where he is.”

Monomime nodded. “I do! But, you’ll only get the files when he finishes recovering!”

“That seems… unfair,” Koga commented.

“Too bad!” Monomime said. “I think it’s just fine! Now get out of the trial room!”

“Ugh, fine…” Surge complained, but even he looked drained. He walked to the elevator. Koga broke off and followed him, as did Giovanni. Soon, everyone was in the elevator, except two.

“Earth to Lorelei! Earth to Erika!” Monomime called. Erika was frozen on the spot, but turned and walked stiffly to the elevator. Lorelei remained.

“Lorelei! C’mon!” Lance beckoned. The red-haired woman walked around, stopping at Bruno’s trial podium. She spat on the podium and turned to join them. With Lorelei’s entrance, the elevator closed and began to travel upwards. Nobody inside said anything.

When they all filed off the elevator, Jessie turned to face them. “I… still want to have the party,” she confessed, “so please come… Erika, you don’t have to make food if you don’t want to.” At this, she turned and walked away. 

Erika looked after Jessie. She spoke quietly. “I… I think it would help. I- I already had some stuff started, so…” she walked off. Everyone exchanged a glance, and Blaine hurried to go help her.

Lorelei looked at the group. “Koga, Lance, we need to talk.”

Koga and Lance shared a confused glance. “Okay…?” Lance responded, and the pair followed her to another building.

Koga was the first to speak. “So, what did you want to talk about?”

Lorelei leaned against the wall, her arms crossed. “Since I left the Elite Four, you two are the ones here who were closest to that traitorous bastard. I was wondering if you had noticed anything like this before we ended up here.”

Lance spoke up first. “No, I didn’t notice anything.”

Koga nodded. “Likewise. This change shocked me, Bruno-”

Lorelei cut Koga off. Her gaze grew dark. “Do not speak his name. He deserves to go to hell for the hell he and his boss are putting us through. He deserves no respect or remembrance.”

Lance stepped back. “Isn’t that a bit harsh?”

“Not for him,” Lorelei responded. “Now, what’s our next plan of action?”

“What do you mean?” Koga asked, still taken aback.

“We aren’t just going to sit here and let the killing game continue, are we?” Lorelei asked.

“What can we do?” Lance asked. 

Koga thought. “Well, if we expose the mastermind…”

Lorelei clapped once. “Sounds good. Now, I’m going to go help with the party. You two figure out how to do that.” With this, she left.

Koga looked at Lance. “So, about that…” 

“I have an idea on how to gather evidence,” Lance said. “I don’t know how well it’ll work, but it might. No rule against it.”

Koga looked interested and leaned in. “Oh?”

“So, here’s the plan…”

When Lance and Koga arrived at the party, only Jessie was present, fiddling with the lights. She waved to the pair. “Hello there!”

Lance nodded. “Hello.”

“E-excuse me!” came Erika’s voice. She came hurrying up holding a plate of various cut-up veggies and dressing. Lorelei followed, with a cake in her hands. They set the items next to a bowl of chips and two pitchers, one with water and one with lemonade. Erika hurried off again. 

“We’re still setting up,” Lorelei explained. “Just give us a sec.”

As she said that, Jessie flipped a switch, turning on some lights. Erika came hurrying back out shortly with a plate of Berries. 

“Is that everything?” Jessie asked. Erika and Lorelei nodded. “Excellent!” Jessie clapped. She turned to Lance and Koga. “Sorry about that.”

Koga shook his head. “It’s fine.”

Blaine was next to arrive. He greeted everyone politely and poured himself a glass of lemonade. Surge showed up shortly after. 

“Hey, where’s the alcohol?” he asked. Everyone shot him a pointed glance, and he quickly subsided. Everyone continued to make small talk for a little, waiting for the others to show up.

It was very awkward.

After about fifteen minutes of small talk, Jessie was growing impatient. “Where’s the boss? The twerp, too! I was hoping everyone would show!”

“Maybe they’re just late…?” Blaine postulated.

“Yes, I am just late,” Giovanni said, striding up. “I lost track of time.”

“Boss!” Jessie exclaimed.

“Have you seen Red?” Surge asked.

“No. Is he not here?” Giovanni responded.

“No…” Lance said. “When was the last time anybody saw him?”

“After you left with Lorelei and Koga, the four of us remaining just kinda… fanned out,” Blaine supplied.

“Did anyone see him since?” Monomime asked. Nobody responded.

“That’s a shame… I lost track of him!” The Pokemon giggled.

“Wait a second… Monomime?” Jessie asked.

“It’s me! I thought I’d come ask you guys where your silent friend is, and maybe get in on this little party?”

“No,” Lorelei said. “Get out.”

“Aw… I see I’m not wanted. Bye!” With those closing words, Monomime vanished, leaving the eight participants behind.

“N-Not even Monomime knows where Red is…?” Erika realized.

“So… that means he’s somewhere not even Monomime has access to!” Jessie realized.

Blaine put his hand up. “If I may, doesn’t this mean that Monomime can’t monitor every area at once? If he could, he could see where Red is!”

Koga and Lance exchanged a glance. “Does this mean…” Koga began.

Lance nodded. “Yes, it does.”

“What’re you two going on about?” Surge asked.

“We have a plan to expose the mastermind, but we can’t say it so we aren’t stopped,” Lance explained. “Although… We will need some help.”

“How is someone supposed to help you if we do not know the plan?” Giovanni inquired.

“Follow instructions,” Koga responded. 

“What’re we waiting for?” Jessie asked. “Let’s go now!”

“W-What about the party?” Erika asked.

“This is more important!” Jessie said, clearly impatient.

“Right, then. Everyone’s in?” Lance asked.

Everyone nodded.

“Good. Follow us.” Lance said, walking off with Koga at his side. The rest of the group followed, curious. They stopped at the Silph Co. building and went inside.

“So… what does this plan of yours entail?” Blaine asked.

Koga thought. “Well, since we have more people… who here would be the worst at physical activity? Your part is mostly waiting, but we need you.”

Erika raised her hand. “Um… I’ll do it.”

“Great! Get in the elevator and ride to the top floor. Keep the door open up there, so the elevator can’t move,” Lance ordered.

“A-alright…” Erika got in the elevator and hit the button, and everyone else heard it begin to ascend.

“What next?” Lorelei asked.

Koga thought. “Surge, come here.”

“Yeah?” Surge came up.

Koga whispered something in Surge’s ear, and he smirked. 

“I get it!” he said and walked over to the elevator.

“That… won’t work,” Jessie pointed out. “Erika just took it to the top!”

Surge beckoned Koga and Lance in closer. “You just have to push hard enough in the center…” He put his fingers between the elevator door and pushed. The doors slid open, revealing a dark shaft. Surge stepped aside. “After you.”

“Ah! I get it!” Jessie realized. “Going down there isn’t against the rules!”

“Bingo,” Lance said.

“I will go first,” Koga said. “Surge, you follow me. Everyone else, after him. Lance, you bring up the rear.” With those words, Koga clambered onto the ladder in the elevator shaft and began the climb down into the inner workings of the killing game. Surge followed him. With some assistance, Lorelei came next. 

Koga climbed down the ladder. occasionally glancing up to make sure the others were still following. He soon reached one floor below, with an elevator door to his right. “Stop!” he called up. After consulting Surge, he leaned over and pushed as hard as he could on the elevator doors from the inside, causing them to slide open. Koga clambered to safety, with Surge following. Lorelei followed next, followed by Jessie, Blaine, and Giovanni. Lance brought up the rear. The group of seven looked around them as the elevator doors slid shut. They were in a hallway, extending to their left. The walls had ‘B1F’ emblazoned on them, and there was a single warp tile and two doors. One was labeled “Security”, and the other was labeled “Infirmary”, the latter of which Monomime was standing in front of.

“Uh oh…” Jessie gulped.

Monomime giggled. “I’m impressed! What a solid loophole!”

“So… we get to be down here?” Lorelei asked.

“Well, I’ve changed it up a bit, so traversal won’t be easy on you. For example, these doors are locked!”

“So we have to use the warp tiles…” Blaine mused.

“Secondly, there’s a new rule! You are no longer allowed to be in the elevator shaft!”

“So, once we’re done here, we can’t come back, correct?” Giovanni said.

“Well, if one person remains down here, you could summon the elevator to them, but… if there’s a trial, you’ll all have to leave!”

“Nobody’s willing to murder anymore!” Jessie stated emphatically.

“Hmm… we’ll see about that!” With those closing words, Monomime vanished.

Blaine tried the infirmary door. “Locked, just as he said.”

Lance peered inside. “I can see Blue in there! He’s asleep!”

“So we have to get in there,” Surge summarized.

“Let’s get going!” Lance said. “Try to stay together!” He stepped on the warp tile, vanishing.

“This’ll be interesting…” Giovanni said, stepping on the tile himself.

Soon, everyone stepped on the tile, going to new destinations.

Blue awoke on an uncomfortable bed. Lorelei and Koga were standing over him. “W-What’s going on?” he asked.

“You were knocked out,” Koga said. “Your attacker-”

“That’s right!” Blue said. “Bruno’s the traitor!”

“We know,” Lorelei said. “You’ve been out for a while. We found him guilty for Sabrina’s death.”

“Right now we’re… in the basement levels of Silph Co. Lance and I exploited a loophole to get us here,” Koga explained. “Monomime made it harder for us, though; all seven of us went to different destinations on the warp tile.”

Blue did some mental math. “Wait… seven? If Bruno and Sabrina are dead… there should be ten!”

“Well, you didn’t come down with us, so you’re the eighth. Erika took the elevator to allow us to get down here, she’s the ninth, and… Red vanished. Not even Monomime could find him.”

Blue went pale. “Red’s… missing?”

“Nobody, not even Monomime, saw him. He’s probably fine.” Koga said.

“Okay…” Blue said, looking doubtful. “Are you sure?”

Lorelei nodded. “Definitely.”

“Alright…” Blue stood up. “What’s the plan?”

“We’re down here to expose the mastermind and end this game,” Lorelei said. “So… we need to look around.”

Blue nodded. “Got it.”

“By the way, once we leave we can’t come back,” Koga said. “So be careful.”

“It’ll be fine!” Blue said. “I’m sure there’s enough evidence to prove the mastermind’s identity down here!”

Lorelei walked to the infirmary computer. “I’ll try to get a handle on this. You two head out.”

Koga and Blue nodded, stepping onto the warp tile.

Blue found himself in a hallway. There were eight doors in various directions to the left. The elevator was in front of Blue, and there was a door labeled ‘Storage’ to the right. The area was labeled as ‘B4F’. Giovanni was examining the eight doors.

“Ah, you’re up,” Giovanni said, turning.

Blue was a little uneasy about Giovanni still. “What’s going on here…?”

“Take a look for yourself,” the boss responded, stepping aside.

The eight doors had no windows, but each was emblazoned with a name. The two opposite Blue read “Misty’s Last Swim” and “Welcome to Jurassic Cave”.

Blue inhaled, looking over the rest of the names. Starting from the two described and moving clockwise, they were “Discordant Arrangement”, “Power of the Mind”, “Quaking Up the Leadership”, “The Erupting Quiz Master!”, “House of Traps”, and “No-Man’s Lightning”.

“These are…” he began, horrified.

“Execution rooms, clearly,” Giovanni stated, matter-of-factly. “Nevermind the fact that both of the first two executions are here, all of the other six match others here.”

“But… there’s only eight,” Blue pointed out.

“If I had to guess, the others are above or below us,” Giovanni responded.

Blue thought back to the trial room layout. “I… guess none of these people are adjacent…”

Giovanni realized something. He jiggled the handle of “Quaking Up the Leadership”. 

“Locked,” he summarized. “Looks like they don’t want us getting a sneak peek…”

Blue tried the handle of “Misty’s Last Swim” and, to his horror, it opened. Within, he saw the pool from the very first execution, the water pink with blood. No body was there, however.

“So only the used executions are unlocked…” Blue mused.

Giovanni tried the handle of “Power of the Mind” and found it locked. He nodded. “I’ll investigate the two execution rooms. I doubt there’ll be much.”

Blue nodded. “See you later, I guess.” He stepped onto the warp tile…

...and appeared in a room with screens on every wall. Lance was examining the screens and turned to Blue when he appeared. 

“You’re awake!” Lance exclaimed. He beckoned Blue over. “Are you alright?”

“Yeah, I am…” Blue trailed off, examining the screens. “What’s all this?”

“Security cameras,” Lance said. Blue leaned in to examine closer, finding that all the screens were, indeed, showing camera footage. Almost everywhere accessible was on the cameras, except the bathrooms. Even the Silph Co. basements were on the cameras.

“So… this is how they’re keeping tabs on us?” Blue asked. “Seems… like a lot of hassle.”

Indeed, it was hard to focus on more than one camera at once. “That’s… probably how Red vanished. Monomime was focusing on another camera…” Lance guessed.

Blue looked at Lorelei on the infirmary camera. “So… Red’s really missing?”

Lance gulped. “I… expected someone would’ve told you?”

“Koga and Lorelei did, although they didn’t go into specifics,” he responded.

“Ah… well, Red never showed up to the party,” Lance said. “Nobody had seen him since the trial.”

Blue gasped. “And you didn’t go looking for him?” 

Lance was embarrassed. “Well, no… Monomime didn’t know where he was, so what good would looking be?”

“Well,” Blue was upset. “What if he’s dead? What then?” 

Lance was taken aback. “I-”

“I don’t want to hear it,” Blue said, striding to the warp tile. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go looking for Red. Smell you never.” He stepped onto the warp tile, leaving Lance alone.

Lance sighed. “I’d go, too, but… someone needs to watch the security cameras.”

He turned his attention back to the cameras, spying Jessie in a storage room before someone else warped into the room. They snuck up behind Lance and knocked him out with a swift whack to the head. They made sure he was uninjured, then left, chuckling.

Blue appeared in a library. Surge was there, rifling through files. He looked up at Blue’s appearance. “Oi. What’s eatin’ ya?” he asked.

“Red,” Blue admitted. “Nobody seems concerned with where he went, and-”

Surge cut him off. “Listen. Red’ll turn up. He wouldn’t just vanish for no reason, right?”

“But, shouldn’t we go looking for him?” Blue asked. “He could be hurt, or-”

“Don’t do that,” Surge said, hastily.

“What, why not? Do you not care?” Blue responded hotly.

“I do care, but you forget. You could be walking right into a trap. Being hotheaded helps no one.” Surge said.

Blue thought for a moment. “You’re right, but I don’t have to be happy about it.”

Surge sighed. “Well, you could help me look through these files.”

Blue thought for a moment. “What have you found so far?”

“Mostly old stuff. This place’s organization is terrible,” Surge said, glancing at the date on a file and stuffing it back on the shelf. “No rhyme or reason to any of it.”

“Well, then I’ll help!” Blue said, stepping to the shelf opposite Surge. The pair began searching.

After about fifteen minutes, Blue pulled out a file dated much more recently. He glanced at it and beckoned Surge over.

“Yeah?” Surge asked.

Blue pointed to the date. “This is more recent than the last day I remember.”

Surge examined it. “...Me, too. But I don’t see how a material study will help us.”

Blue looked at the file, realizing that it was, indeed, a material study. “Well, you never know, right?” He opened it and began reading it aloud.

“Material 06-A is seemingly metal. However, it is as thin as a sheet of paper, and is as flexible as one Only one sample has successfully been obtained from Subject 06.”

Blue stopped, feeling his blood run cold. “Subject… 6? What’s that?”

Surge was also nervous. “I dunno… you don’t think it could be connected to why we’re here, or what happened out there?”

“We’ll find out, I suppose,” Blue said. He kept reading.

“This material is very sharp, able to cut through most other materials. It matches the chemical composition of…” Blue trailed off. 

“What is it?” Surge asked. 

“It trails off into something much more technical right about here,” the former Champion explained. “If there is anything here, it’s buried in technical mumbo-jumbo.”

“I’m not good with that stuff unless it involves electricity,” Surge said apologetically.

“Maybe Blaine would know?” Blue asked. 

“Good idea!” Surge said. “I’ll go try to find him.” Surge strode over to the warp tile, and stepped on it…

...right as the power went out. Blue found the library plunged into darkness, even as he heard the sound of someone collapsing. He yelled in shock, grabbing the shelves. He felt his way along for a little, trying to find a light switch. However, before he could, the lights came back on, revealing…

A horrifying sight. The power had cut out exactly as Surge had stepped onto the warp tile, causing it to cut off in the middle of teleporting him. Therefore, the upper half of Surge’s body was on the floor next to the tile, leaking blood, with his legs nowhere to be found. Surge’s expression was frozen in a state of shock. Before Blue even had fully processed what was going on, the dreaded announcement went off.

“A body has been discovered!” 


	15. Chapter 4: Deadly Life

“A body has been discovered!”

Blue looked up at the sound, still shocked. “But I’m the only one who’s seen this-”

Monomime continued. “The body is in two places: the library and the storage room. Please stay put so I can Teleport you all to the library.”

Blue watched as the first person to be teleported was Blaine. He appeared near him. 

“Wh-what happened?” Blaine asked. “Who died- AAH!” Blaine saw the body. “S-Surge…”

Giovanni was next, shortly followed by Jessie and Koga together. While Giovanni looked somewhat unsettled at the body, Jessie and Koga looked like they were expecting it.

“So that’s where those legs came from…” Koga trailed off.

Lorelei was next, followed by a knocked-out Lance. He unsteadily rose to his feet. 

“What… happened?” he asked, rubbing his head.

“Surge is dead,” Giovanni stated bluntly. Lance turned and gaped at the body.

The last person to be warped in alongside Monomime was Erika. She put a hand to her mouth looking at the half-corpse, going pale.

Monomime giggled. “Two in one day, huh? Man, you guys are just murderous…”

“Stuff it,” Blue growled.

“Fine, fine… Here’s the Monomime file!” Monomime handed over the file. “Make sure to do plenty of investigation!”

“How are we supposed to do that without the ability to walk everywhere…?” Giovanni asked.

Monomime thought. “Hmm… you’re right. I’ll stay here, and if you want to go somewhere on another floor, just ask me! I’ll unlock the doors, too!”

With this, Monomime went to go unlock the doors. 

Blue looked at the Monomime file, as did everyone else.

_The victim is Lieutenant Surge, the Gym Leader of Vermilion City._   
_The time of death was approximately 4:45 PM._   
_The body was found in the library and storage rooms._   
_The only wound on the body is the victim’s legs being teleported while the rest of the body was not._

“How do we know this is a murder?” Giovanni postulated. 

“...what do you mean?” Lorelei asked.

“I think the cause of death is a mechanical failure. Would that be considered murder?” Giovanni asked.

“Monomime wouldn’t make us do this if it wasn’t a murder,” Lorelei pointed out.

“Right,” Blue confirmed. 

“Alibis should probably wait for the trial…” Koga mused. “Does anyone know how many accessible rooms there were?”

Lance rose a hand. “I was in the security room. There was that and, assuming it was arranged by floor, the infirmary and the hallway we started in both in the first basement. The trial room was in the second basement. The third basement is the library we started on, plus eight more rooms I couldn’t see and a hallway. Lastly, the fourth basement was an electrical room, a storage room, and eight more rooms.”

“Executions,” Giovanni contributed. “Those sixteen rooms were executions.”

Jessie thought. “It seems like it’d be best to split up,” she said. 

Blaine nodded. “The library, storage room, and likely the electrical room are important to this case.”

“Security, too,” Lance said. “I got attacked there.”

“S-so… there’s eight of us and four rooms…” Erika said. 

“Let’s go in pairs,” Blue said. “I’ll stay here in the library with… who here has mechanical knowledge?” 

Blaine raised a hand. “Depends.”

“Do you know how a warp tile works?” Blue asked. 

Blaine put his hand down. “N-no.”

Giovanni spoke up. “I do. You all forget I took over this building once.” 

Blue bristled at the last comment but stayed silent.

“I’ll go to security,” Blaine said. “Lance, you were attacked there… do you want to come?”

The Champion nodded.

“I will head to Electrical,” Koga said. 

Lorelei nodded. “I shall go there as well.”

“That leaves Erika and me in storage!” Jessie said.

Their tasks decided, the group split off to investigate.

Blue and Giovanni were the only ones left in the library. 

“So… the warp tile caused Surge’s demise?” Giovanni asked.

“Well… I was in the library with him when the power went out. He was warping away. In the dark, I heard him collapse, and then it came back on and I saw… that,” Blue summarized, waving at the body.

Giovanni thought. “Warp tiles have failsafes to prevent this… let me check something.” The Rocket boss shoved the half-corpse off the now inactive tile. “Do you have a screwdriver?” 

Blue was a little disturbed by how casually Giovanni was handling this. “No,” he responded. 

“Find one, then,” Giovanni responded.

Blue nodded and went off to find a screwdriver. He found a drawer with a few emergency items below the clock blinking ‘12:07 AM’ and retrieved a screwdriver.

“Here ya go,” Blue said, tossing the screwdriver to Giovanni.

Giovanni didn’t respond. He unscrewed the warp tile and began inspecting the components. Blue, meanwhile, found the discarded materials study, and folded it up and put it in his pockets.

Shortly after, Giovanni stood up, slightly bloody. “This was tampered with,” he revealed. “The failsafe was removed.”

“Failsafe…?” Blue asked. He was not very knowledgeable about warp tiles.

“Something that allows the tile to keep running for the time of one full teleport past a power outage,” Giovanni said, holding up a part of the tile that had something missing.

Blue nodded. “So, someone sabotaged the tile…”

The pair continued investigating a little more.

Soon, Blue found something. “On the floor here… aren’t these dusty footprints?”

Giovanni looked closer. “Indeed.”

On the floor were footprints made of dust, as if someone had been walking through dust right before the library. To Blue and Giovanni, however, they meant nothing yet. They continued searching, but ultimately found nothing else of interest in the library.

Meanwhile, Koga and Lorelei were in the electrical room after Monomime teleported them there. Nothing looked amiss in the room at first glance. However, upon closer inspection, several things were out of place.

Koga was the first to notice. “Don’t move. The floors are covered in dust.”

Lorelei was taken aback. “What?”

“There are footprints. Don’t destroy them,” he responded. “Let me get a look at them first.”

Koga carefully tiptoed over to the footprints. They were completely flat and filled in, and lead from the warp tile to the breaker panel on the far wall. Koga carefully avoided them, walking to the breaker panel. Lorelei followed, carefully. The switches were, unfortunately, not labeled, but the pair could tell they hadn’t been used in a while: all except the middle row was dusty.

“Why was more than one touched?” Koga 1asked. 

“Maybe the killer wanted to turn the power back on but couldn’t see which switch they’d flipped in the dark,” Lorelei suggested.

“Seems plausible…” Koga mused.

Lorelei’s eye caught something on the floor, and she leaned down to pick it up. It was a sticky note. 

“What’s that…?” Koga asked.

Lorelei read it. “It says… ‘Shields’. Do you think that it was a label?”

“You mean for a switch?” Koga asked. “If it’s here, why did the killer flip another switch?”

“I don’t know…” Lorelei admitted. “Which switch was it attached to?”

“No way to tell,” Koga said. “If it fell off, there’s likely not much residue left.”

“Hmm…” Lorelei mused.

The pair continued investigating, although no more evidence was found. 

Soon, an announcement was made by Monomime. “Please gather at the closest elevator to you. It’s time for the trial!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one's a little shorter than usual, but that's because we can't have the trial being too easy, now can we?  
> Also, I know I don't respond, but I appreciate every comment and love to look at all the guesses (I just never know how to respond without spoiling anything). I love all the positive feedback on this story! I hope everyone's ready... we're closing in on the finish.


	16. Chapter 4: Trial

Blue and Giovanni made their way to the elevator. When it dinged open, Blaine and Lance were already inside. The elevator descended one more floor and picked up the other four, and then, for the second time that day, it began to ascend to the trial room.

“I-I can’t believe someone murdered again…” Jessie said.

“Well, it happened,” Lorelei pointed out. “The best thing we can do for Surge is bring his killer to justice.”

“That seems like it’ll be a difficult task,” Blaine pointed out. “None of us know the murder scene well at all.”

“Well, we’ll h-have to try,” Erika responded.

“I do wonder… why?” Koga asked. “There aren’t any murder motives, as far as I can tell.”

Lance sighed. “Yeah… I hope that it’ll become clear as we discuss.”

Giovanni remained silent.

“Well, it’s time,” Blue said, taking a deep breath as the elevator stopped. “Let’s expose Surge's murderer!”

The elevator dinged open. Bruno and Surge’s podiums now had crossed out portraits, while Blue’s portrait was gone in favor of one depicting Red.

“Let’s see… You all know the rules, this is the second trial today!” Monomime laughed. “Well, have at it then! Bring lightning man’s killer to justice!”

Koga nodded. “So, what do we know for certain?” 

“Well, we can rule some people out with the Body Discovery Announcement,” Lorelei pointed out.

“Good thinking,” Blaine said.

-NONSTOP DEBATE: START-

“Myself, Koga, and Blue were the ones to set off the announcement!” Jessie emphatically stated.

“I was in the library…” Blue said.

“And Jessie and I saw the legs, in storage,” Koga said.

“Wait a moment…” Blaine said. “Couldn’t whoever was in security see the body, too?”

“That’s wrong!”

-COUNTER: LANCE-

-BREAK-

“Hm?” Blaine asked. “How would that be wrong?”

“Well,” Lance said, “I was looking at the cams, but I was attacked and knocked out!”

“Oh, right…” Blaine said.

“So, Jessie, Koga, and me are innocent!” Blue said.

Lorelei nodded. “Yes. Now, there’s only five of us who could have committed the crime.”

“A-actually… o-only four,” Erika said. “I couldn’t have done it either.”

-NONSTOP DEBATE: START-

“Hm?” Giovanni asked. 

“Erika was holding the elevator for us, so she couldn’t have done it!” Lance realized.

“Nope,” Blue said. “There are elevator buttons on the lower floors. Someone could have brought her down that way.”

“N-Nobody did!” Erika said.

“Can you… prove it?” Koga asked. 

“I can!” 

-CONSENT: KOGA & BLUE-

-BREAK-

“That seems hard to prove,” Lorelei pointed out.

“Not really,” Blue said. “When the elevator came to pick us up for the trial, it picked Giovanni and I up second after Lance and Blaine, which it would only do if it was at the top floor!”

“Makes sense,” Koga said.

“S-so… I couldn’t do it!” Erika said.

“Only four suspects left!” Jessie said. “This is going better than I expected!”

Lance, Lorelei, Blaine, and Giovanni remained. 

-NONSTOP DEBATE: START-

“Actually… wait,” Blaine said. “Something’s been bugging me…”

“Yeah?” Blue asked.

“Well,” Blaine said. “I may not know much about warp tiles, but even I know that, if the power is cut, there has to be some sort of failsafe!”

“That’s wrong.”

-COUNTER: GIOVANNI-

-BREAK-

“Hm?” Blaine asked. “What happened?”

“Someone tampered with the tile,” Giovanni said. “They removed the failsafe.”

“Whoever did that must have been in the library at some point,” Lorelei pointed out.

-NONSTOP DEBATE: START-

“The killer must have visited the library…” Blaine mused.

“Lance, do you know anything?” Jessie asked. “You were on the cameras when the tampering would have occurred…”

Lance shook his head. “As far as I could tell, the only one in the library was Surge!”

“Does that mean… Surge arranged for his own death?” Blue asked.

“Your deductions are flawed.”

-COUNTER: KOGA-

-BREAK-

“W-what?” Erika asked.

“You all have overlooked a very simple possibility,” Koga said. “What if Monomime was the one who trapped the tiles?”

“...what?” Lorelei asked. “Why would he do that?”

Lance realized. “No, that actually does make sense. He said we’d get unlimited time until a trial…”

“So he decided to make it easier for the killer to act,” Giovanni stated.

Monomime was laughing. “Puhuhu… very good, everyone! Yes, I was the one who trapped the tiles!”

“Where exactly does that get us, then?” Jessie asked. “I still don’t entirely understand how this whole thing went down…”

“I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to go through it,” Blaine said.

-NONSTOP DEBATE: START-

“Surge was murdered in the library…” Blue began, “…using the power outage as the weapon!”

“I was attacked in security, too,” Lance reminded everyone. “Likely so I couldn’t catch the killer in the act.”

“Then, the killer went to electrical from security, and flipped off the power at the perfect time to kill Surge!” Lorelei summarized. 

“That’s gotta be wrong!” 

-COUNTER: JESSIE-

-BREAK-

“How so?” Lorelei asked.

“Well,” Jessie said, “weren’t the warp tiles randomized?”

“Yep!” Monomime confirmed.

“If that’s the case… how did the killer move from security to electrical so flawlessly?” Jessie asked.

“Unless… our killer is the mastermind,” Koga guessed.

“Huh?” Blue asked.

“Think about it,” Koga replied. “The mastermind could likely choose where they were going, at least if they were alone.”

“It wouldn’t be impossible…” Giovanni mused.

“And, if the mastermind murdered Surge, then they’d be able to get us out of the basements!” Blue said.

-NONSTOP DEBATE: START-

“So… is that it? We just need to find the mastermind?” Jessie asked.

Lance thought. “It seems so. How do we… do that, though?”

“Well, several of us cannot be the killer, so we also cannot be the mastermind,” Koga reminded the others.

“Just… Lance, Lorelei, Giovanni, and Blaine weren’t backed up,” Blue remembered.

“You are far too hasty.”

-COUNTER: GIOVANNI-

-BREAK-

Without waiting for a response, Giovanni began talking. “If the killer really timed the outage to kill Surge, how did they do it without the cameras in security?”

“I- what?” Blue asked.

“He’s right,” Blaine realized. “If the killer was in electrical, how did they know when to time the murder?”

After thinking for a moment, Koga spoke up. “There are… two possibilities. The first is that there were two conspiring murderers, and one of them is either Lance or the mastermind. The second is that Surge’s murder was a complete accident, and Lance being knocked out was an unrelated event.”

“It being an accident is more likely,” Giovanni pointed out. “How would the killers signal just when Surge was warping with no delay?”

“Warp tiles are fast…” Jessie remembered. “Any delay at all and the plan would’ve been botched!”

“An accident…?” Blaine mused. “That makes no sense!”

“What do you mean?” Lorelei asked. “It’s the most plausible-”

“No!” Blaine interrupted. “I’m telling you, it makes no sense!”

-CONVICTION CONUNDRUM: START-

“Listen to me, Blaine,” Lorelei began. “The murder being an accident is the most plausible scenario!”

“No! The sheer chance of something like that… the power outage being pulled at the perfect time… it’s nearly impossible!”

“Nearly impossible is not zero,” Giovanni rebutted.

“But it’s much more likely to have been on purpose!”

“If th-that’s the case, how did the killers contact each other?” Erika asked.

“A walkie-talkie, or a video camera, or something! It’s much more likely than… an accident!”

“We know the tiles were trapped,” Blue pointed out, “but even with that the delay would have thrown everything off!”

“The- maybe then the killers got lucky! That’s far more likely than the accident hypothesis!”

“There’s no evidence that the two rooms were in contact!” Jessie pointed out.

“The murder itself is the evidence!”

“I was unconscious in security, but I woke up upon hearing you all talking, which means that nobody made a lot of noise!” Lance rebutted. 

“You’re forgetting another thing, too! If the murder was accidental, why would the culprit cause the outage?”

“I can answer that,” Koga responded. “When Lorelei and I investigated electrical, there was a fallen label on a switch: Shields. The culprit likely assumed they were removing the barrier around Saffron.”

“I- what?” 

-FULL COUNTER-

-BREAK-

Blaine sighed. “If that’s the case… maybe you’re right. Sorry…”

“Regardless,” Lorelei said, “We need to figure out who was in Electrical prior to the murder.

“Me, Koga, Erika, and Blue are all backed up,” Jessie remembered.

“In addition, I can back up Lance, if his attacker is no longer under suspicion,” Blue contributed.

“That leaves four potential culprits…” Giovanni mused. “Myself, Red, Lorelei, and Blaine…”

“Where were you guys?” Jessie asked.

-NONSTOP DEBATE: START-

“I remained in the infirmary after Koga and Blue left,” Lorelei contributed.

“I saw her on the cameras not long before the murder,” Blue pointed out.

“Red is MIA, and I investigated the lower executions…” Giovanni said.

“And I was in the upper executions!” Blaine responded.

“Someone’s l-lying…” Erika said. “But who…?”

“We’re out of evidence,” Jessie said, dejectedly. 

“Your mistake is as clear as ice.”

-COUNTER: LORELEI-

-BREAK-

“Hm?” Blaine asked. “What did we miss?”

“There were footprints in electrical,” Lorelei said. “Koga and I saw them.”

Koga nodded. “That is correct.”

Blue remembered something. “We saw the dust from those prints in the library!” 

Lorelei nodded. “Good. That makes my statement more trustworthy.”

Jessie was frustrated. “Get to the point!”

Lorelei nodded. “Alright. Those prints were solid and filled-in. My high heels couldn’t have made those prints.”

“What kinds of shoes do the other suspects wear?” Blue asked. “I know Red wears sneakers…”

“I wear wingtips,” Giovanni contributed.

“And I wear loafers!” Blaine finished.

Lorelei thought for a moment. “Blaine, do your loafers have heels?”

“N-no…” he responded, shaking.

“What do you have to say for yourself, then?” Lorelei asked. 

Blaine was shaking. “I- I- I can’t keep doing this!” he yelled.

Everyone was shocked at this outburst. “What…?” Jessie wondered.

“The lying, the deception… I can’t handle it!” Blaine was distraught. “I did it! I murdered Surge! All to turn off those shields! It was an accident…”

“So… that’s it?” Blue asked. 

“That’s it,” Koga agreed, gravely.  
Lorelei put her hand to her mouth. “I- wasn’t expecting this…”

“I- shouldn’t we g-go over the case?” Erika asked. “Like usual…?” 

Blaine nodded. “I- I’ll do this. At least to give you all… peace of mind. It’s too late for me…”

-CLOSING ARGUMENT(?): START-

Blaine inhaled and began. “It all started when, not long after the previous murder, Lance and Koga devised a plan to get us into the inner workings of the killing game. All of us, minus Blue and plus Surge, went along with that plan. Surge opened the elevator, and we all climbed down into the game. There, Monomime told us that the only way to get around was via warp tile. What we didn’t know was that the failsafe was removed.”

“When we went onto that initial warp tile, I was sent to the upper executions. After poking around for a bit, I moved on to the electrical room. There, I saw a breaker box, with one switch labeled ‘Shields’. I flipped it, assuming it was for the barrier, and the power went out. I fumbled around for a bit and managed to flip the power back on. What I didn’t realize was that… I had flipped the power off at the exact time Surge was warping, killing him… I didn’t even realize I had murdered anyone until I saw the body!”

-COMPLETE-

-BREAK-

“I…” Erika was lost for words.

Giovanni wasn’t. “If that’s the case… why not admit it earlier?”

Blaine shook his head. “I… was desperate. I thought I could get away with it… I’m- I’m glad I didn’t.”

Lance sighed. “I- I’m sorry, Blaine-”

Monomime interrupted. “Sorry to interrupt a touching moment, but it’s time to vote!” He clapped, and the sixteen buttons appeared for the second time that day.

“And the one who you all voted as the blackened was…” Monomime announced, “Blaine, the Fire-type Gym Leader of Cinnabar Island!”

Blaine sighed. “Well, my time is up. Good luck, everyone… expose the mastermind for me, okay?” A chute opened beneath him, and he slid down to the execution below.

A title appeared on the screen, one familiar to Giovanni and Blue: The Erupting Quiz Master!

Blaine was deposited onto a podium, suspended above lava. A screen had a message on it.

“Here are the rules! Answer questions fast enough, and the podium will rise! If you can outspeed the rising lava… you win! First question!”

As the questions began, the lava began rising, and Blaine began answering. 

“Metapod! Eight! Politoed! Ground-type! Power Bracer! Rock Tomb! Magmar!” Blaine’s answers were correct at the beginning, and he began to rise. However, the questions began to ramp up in difficulty, and Blaine’s anxiety from the execution caused him to botch a few. Eventually, the questions were flashing by so fast and were so hard that Blaine could do nothing to keep up as the lava rose to meet him. At this point, the questions were rising so fast that Blaine could do nothing but desperately struggle, trying to escape his fiery doom. This was short-lived, as the lava rose, swallowing Blaine whole and burning him to a crisp. The screens shut off, leaving everyone in shock.


	17. Interlude D

“Any updates?”

“No. Mr. Mime has weakened the suppression, but not enough for us to do anything yet.”

“The boss says, with the big G on the way, that the girlie, psychic, and I need to be ready at all times. On high alert.”

“Does he now? I’m surprised he wants to go ahead, after the psychic burnout incident…”

“That’s why he’s going to use his Pokemon this time.”

“I thought we were worried about that?”

“He’s decided it’s worth the risk. Now, is there any way we can move your setup into the main room? It’d be better for being on alert.”

“If you and the others give me a hand with it.”

“Understood!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The final interlude. We're in the endgame now.


	18. Chapter 5: Daily Life

“It… never gets any easier, does it…” Koga said.

“Who cares about that? Get out of the trial room!” Monomime said. “I need to find the twerp, and you all are impeding on that!”

Jessie’s gaze shifted suspiciously to Monomime. 

“What?” the Pokemon asked. “Did I say something wrong?”

Jessie sighed. “No, it’s nothing. Let’s go, guys.”

Puzzled over this exchange, everyone followed Jessie to the elevator. 

When the elevator reached the top, the remaining seven stepped out to find that it was getting dark.

“It’s been a long day…” Lance said. “We can discuss our findings in the morning.”

Lorelei nodded. “Makes sense.”

As the group was walking back to the Pokemon Center, Koga suggested something.

“What if none of us leave the Center in the morning, so we can all share our findings?”

Blue nodded. “Sounds like a plan. Night, everyone.” He waved and headed into the Center, and everyone else followed. 

When Blue awoke the next morning and exited his room, he saw Lance, Jessie, and Koga. Koga was standing in front of the door, and the other two were sitting down. Blue got breakfast and went to join them.

“Good to see you, Blue,” Lance greeted.

Blue nodded. “Good to see ya.”

Koga waved from his position near the door. “I was the first one up, so I’m guarding the door so we all can meet.”

“About the evidence, yeah?” Blue asked.

Jessie nodded. “We want to make sure the mastermind doesn’t sneak away.”

As Lorelei and Giovanni walked up, Blue nodded. “Makes sense to me.”

After looking around, Lorelei sat down. “So, we’re only waiting on Erika, correct?”

Lance nodded. “Then, we can discuss what everyone found. Coffee, anyone?”

Lorelei nodded, accepting the drink. Everyone made idle chit-chat for a while, and eventually, Erika got out of bed and joined the rest. She yawned and gratefully accepted the coffee Lance offered.

Koga walked up to the group. “Now, I believe we can get down to business.”

Lance nodded. “Before we begin, I feel I should reiterate our goal: we want any evidence found in the basement of Silph Co or any other evidence that could lead to the mastermind’s identity.”

Erika raised a hand. “If- if that’s the case, I’ll contribute something. I can prove one person here is not the mastermind.”

Lorelei looked intrigued. “But, you were holding the elevator, correct?”

Erika nodded. “Yes, b-but… Blue was attacked by Bruno for being a witness, correct?”

Blue nodded. “Yes, and Monomime even pointed me out.”

“In that case, Blue cannot be the mastermind!” Erika concluded.

“That’s sound logic,” Koga said. “That leaves us with seven suspects, counting Red.”

“Six, actually,” Lance said. “I was attacked during the investigation, remember?”

Jessie raised a hand. “Actually, nobody can back you up. Blue was found unconscious and Bruno admitted to it. You, however, were never found unconscious and woke up immediately upon being teleported to the body.”

Lance nodded. “Yes, of course. My apologies.”

Blue was impatient. “Let’s get on with the evidence, already!”

Lorelei nodded. “Alright. I’ll go first. I was on the verge of a breakthrough into some suspicious patient files in the infirmary dated not long ago, but before I could get in the body announcement was called.”

“That is helpful, though,” Koga pointed out. “Now we know that the infirmary was in use relatively recently, and likely was set up outside of the killing game.”

Blue was next, and he got out the material study. “Surge and I found this file. It’s a material study for a substance called 06-A.” 

Jessie looked at the file intently. “What’s it about?”

Blue opened it. “A lot of it is technical mumbo-jumbo, but whatever it is, it came from Subject 06 and is a sheet of metal that is as thin and flexible as paper.”

“A metal… like that? I’ve never heard of anything like that!” Lance exclaimed.

“More pressingly,” Giovanni interjected, “What about this Subject 06…?”

“It wasn’t elaborated on,” Blue said. “It’s almost like we were expected to recognize it just by that.”

Erika thought. “M-maybe… Subject 06 is a Pokemon? I’m not a Steel expert, but wouldn’t it be plausible for that to have come from a Pokemon?”

“Think about it, though,” Blue said. “What Steel types even are in Kanto and Johto with metal like that? Magnemite isn’t a sheet…”

“Skarmory feathers are, though,” pointed out Lance.

“Dimensions are too big to be Skarmory feathers,” Blue rebutted. “And the only other local Steel types are Scizor, Bronzong, Forretress, and Steelix, none of which fit.”

“Could it be a foreign Steel Pokemon?” Lorelei asked. “My Sandslash’s Steel is certainly different from any local Pokemon.”

“It could be,” Blue admitted, “but I’m not as familiar with foreign Steel-types.”

“U-um…” Erika said, “I was looking into training a Ferrothorn, and this is definitely not that either…”

“Ugh!” Jessie exclaimed. “We’re just going in circles! Can we move on already?”

Blue nodded. “Sorry.”

Lance spoke up. “I found the security cameras and was able to find the blindspots just in case. However, I will be keeping them secret, so the mastermind does not find out.”

“That’s suspicious…” Lorelei mused.

“It makes sense,” Giovanni pointed out. “If the mastermind is truly one of us seven, then they could prevent us from exploiting them.”

Lorelei nodded. “Never mind, then.”

“I believe I should go next, then,” Giovanni said. “I found some of the execution rooms. More specifically, I found the rooms for the eight Kanto gym leaders at the time of Red and Blue’s League challenge.”

“And, we’re every other spot at the trial grounds,” Koga pointed out.

“So, what were the executions?” Jessie asked. “We’ve- we’ve seen three, but…”

“The doors were locked,” Giovanni said. “I could only get into the two we had seen at the time.”

“Not even Sabrina’s execution?” Lorelei asked. “Hers is going unused…”

“Not even hers,” Giovanni said.

“Strange…” Blue mused.

Koga nodded. “Now then, I believe it is Jessie and I’s turn.”

Jessie nodded. “Right. Koga and I ended up together, in the storage room. There we found several things.”

“Firstly,” Koga took something from his ninja tools. He set the small vial on the table. “This is Substance 01-A.”

“Consistent with 06-A…” Blue mused.

“That means it probably came from Subject 1,” Lorelei pointed out. “What… is it, though?”

The group examined the vial, full of a translucent pale blue liquid. 

Koga nodded. “I think it is poison or venom. Although, I will need to perform some tests to determine what Pokemon it came from.”

“The color makes me think Venomoth…” Blue admitted.

“That would be right, but that would be like having lots of Vileplume poison. Venomoth poison is not liquid,” Koga pointed out. 

“Right, right… what do you think?” Blue asked.

Koga thought. “It could be diluted Alolan Grimer or Alolan Muk… Liquefied Galarian Weezing combined with a purple poison could be it… or Toxapex.”

“That isn’t the only thing that we retrieved from down there,” Jessie said. “We also found… over 80 Poke Balls, for our teams that we had before being put in here…”

The others gasped. “Why didn’t you open them?” Blue demanded.

Koga sighed. “There’s some kind of Poke Ball suppression field. Jessie and I each retrieved six, but we cannot open them.” Upon saying this, he and Jessie each placed six Poke Balls on the table.

The others stared at them. Without the operational healing machine or PC, there likely wasn’t any way to identify them.

“So… what do we do?” Blue asked. “Especially if some of these belong to dead people…”

“I say we leave them here,” Lance proposed. “We can’t open or identify them, and if there are at any point fewer than twelve, we’ll know someone took them, and it will be a simple matter to find out who.”

Everyone nodded assent to this plan.

“So, w-what do we do now?” Erika asked. “We don’t have much info on the mastermind…”

“I will work on identifying the poison, and why it is so important,” Koga proposed. “Someone else can come with me.”

“And I’ll be looking for Red!” Blue reminded everyone.

Jessie thought. “Koga, do you mind if I help? I prefer Poison Pokemon myself, and we found that vial together.”

Koga nodded. “Sounds good.”

Lance thought. “As for the rest of us, we should probably look for Red or more clues to the mastermind. Let’s meet up back here later.”

Everyone nodded. Koga and Jessie left to set up a lab in the PokeMart, while the others split off to do their own investigating.

Blue found himself in front of Silph Co. again, looking up. He wandered towards the elevator until a voice snapped him out of his thoughts.

“Did you have the same thought I did?” It was Lorelei.

“Hm?” Blue looked at her. 

“Do you remember the first trial?” Lorelei asked. “Monomime mentioned a new floor of Silph opened… but nobody went there.”

Blue thought. “Huh, you’re right.” He opened the elevator, and he and Lorelei stepped onto it. “If I recall correctly, floors one, two, three, and eleven were open…”

The pair looked at the elevator buttons. 1, 2, 3, 4, and 11 were all lit up. Lorelei pushed the button for the 4th floor. The elevator opened, revealing a hallway. Blue peeked into the first room, revealing an administrative office. He beckoned Lorelei in, and the two began to investigate.

“So, Blue…” Lorelei began. “If you forgot what Monomime said, why were you here?”

Blue sighed. “I just… really wanna find Red, you know? I just kinda… started wandering.”

Lorelei nodded. “I understand. I would like to find Red as well; I owe him a debt.”

Blue sniggered. “What, for beating you in a battle?”

Lorelei looked affronted. “No, he helped me fend off Team Rocket at my home. Need I remind you, you left just before they arrived.”

Blue looked ashamed. “Four Island, right? I didn’t know Team Rocket was there…”

Lorelei nodded. “It’s fine. I understand. Most everyone just comes to Four Island to catch a Lapras, or to leave Pokemon at our local Day Care. It’s why I joined the Elite Four. Nobody on Four Island is a particularly skilled Trainer.”

Blue thought back to his previous visit. “Yeah, I see that. You’re kind of that island’s claim to fame now, aren’t you?”

Lorelei nodded. “I’m glad I was able to help them. Now, people from Four Island have felt inspired to become Trainers themselves.”

Blue thought. “I… don’t really know what that’s like, to be honest. Pallet Town trainers are kind of famous, but there are so few of us that… I never really got to be an inspiration to anyone.”

“Pallet is small, isn’t it?” Lorelei inquired.

Blue nodded. “There’s my family, Red’s, and no more than three others.”

“That’s small…” Lorelei mused. “And yet… not one, but two Champions and a world-famous professor came from there.”

“I guess it’s just luck,” Blue said. The pair had found nothing in the administrative office, so they were now in a storage room. Courtesy of Monomime, there was nothing but boxes, weapons, and food.

“I suppose so…” Lorelei mused. 

After a bit more searching, the two gave up.

“I’m… going to go search elsewhere,” Blue admitted. “See you later, Lorelei!”

Lorelei nodded. “Bye.”

Blue left and went to search elsewhere. He wandered for a bit, not knowing where to look. He rounded a corner and collided with someone. 

“Ow…” Erika picked herself up. 

“Oh! Sorry,” Blue said. “I didn’t see you there.”

“No, it’s okay…” Erika said. “It was an accident.”

“What are you up to?” Blue asked.

“I’m… not doing much of anything, really…” Erika said. “I don’t know what to do…”

“That’s… I get that,” Blue said. “We really have no leads to follow aside from letting Koga and Jessie do their thing.”

“Yeah…” Erika said. “I… actually was sleeping not too long ago, which I haven’t done during the day as much since we got here.”

Blue was visibly confused, before remembering. “Oh, right, didn’t you have a reputation for dozing off at inopportune times? I thought that was due to Sleep Powder or something.”

Erika sighed. “No, it’s not. I actually have a mild form of narcolepsy. I fall asleep whenever I get bored. I’ve only actually fallen asleep from it twice so far here…”

“Must be the nerves,” Blue commented.

“Yeah…” Erika nodded. “Ever since… well, since the killing game was announced, I’ve rarely been bored. Not that that’s a good thing…”

Blue sighed. “Yeah…” 

“There’s just-” Erika cut herself off. “I- I need to go.”

“Wait!” Blue yelled, but Erika had already taken off. Blue tried to chase her, but she locked herself in her room.

“That- what did I do?” Blue wondered. “Did I say something wrong?” He thought and then wandered off to try to search for clues.

For the rest of the day, Blue searched, trying to find clues. However, he came up empty-handed. When it came time for the meeting, everyone else shared a similar sentiment.

Erika was present, although she avoided Blue’s gaze. The last to arrive at the meeting were Koga and Jessie. When they sat down, Lance stood up.

“Does anyone have any findings they’d like to report? I, myself, found nothing…” he began.

Lorelei raised a hand. “Blue and I investigated a new floor of Silph Co., although that yielded nothing.”

“Anyone else?” Lance asked.

Koga stood up. “Jessie and I ran several tests on the venom. Chemically, it is closest to Tentacruel venom, but some properties do not match any known Poison Pokemon. We do not yet know the effects. We plan to run more tests tomorrow.”

“What if its from a non-Poison Pokemon using a Poison-type move?” Giovanni asked. “Sandslash, for example.”

“While many Pokemon can learn Toxic, as it is from a TM, it produces standardized poison; other Poison moves, however, are fair game,” Koga responded. “It would be a lot of work to harvest that much poison from a Sandslash.”

Blue thought. “What about that Unovan Pokemon like Tentacruel… Jellicent, I think?”

“I admit, I am not familiar with Jellicent venom, but I do know they have very little of it,” Koga summed up. “Even our vial would need removal of the poison from at least five Jellicent, and many more if they were Frillish.”

“The- the color doesn’t match,” Erika piped up. Everyone turned to look at her. 

“How do you know?” Jessie asked. “Jellicent isn’t your specialty type…”

“M-Misty had one,” Erika responded. “I remember her talking to me about it… Jellicent venom is similar to Tentacruel venom in almost every way.”

“That settles that, then,” Lorelei commented. “Good luck finding more properties… I’m going to investigate more tomorrow. We can meet up again tomorrow evening.”

Everyone agreed to this plan, and they split off to go to bed.

In the morning, Blue got up and ate, and then went off to search. He had no ideas about where to search, so he ended up just wandering aimlessly. Eventually, he was searching in an alley, having nothing else to do, when a voice came from behind him.

“I see you’re out of ideas.”

Blue yelped and whirled around. Giovanni was standing there. “Don’t sneak up on me like that!”

“My apologies.” Giovanni stepped forwards. “I just thought I would come keep you company.”

Blue was, understandably, very suspicious. “Why? You could be doing your own investigating.”

“If I knew where to look, don’t you think I’d be there?” Giovanni countered. “I merely thought you’d appreciate my ideas on where to look, or rather, who to ask.”

“Why are you being so nice all of a sudden?” Blue asked. “Since the last trial, I feel like you’ve been participating more.”

“This game is reaching its climax,” Giovanni responded. “The mastermind is close to being unveiled. Now, we must be vigilant.”

Blue thought. “I mean, yeah… but why not help before?”

“Why should I help when people like Misty seemed intent on distrusting us? I felt it best for Rocket to go solo at the time.” Giovanni sighed. “Jessie was intent on joining you, but I disagreed. Not until… It doesn’t matter.”

Blue remembered something that he’d been meaning to ask Giovanni. “I have a question: if I remember correctly, you disbanded Rocket eight years ago, when Red defeated you… why were Jessie and James and you, even, acting like Rocket was still active earlier?”

“I can’t tell you,” Giovanni responded. “I can say, however, that I was planning to attend the PWT alongside the rest of the Kanto League.”

Blue thought. “That sounds risky… you hadn’t been sighted at all since you met with your son after losing to Red… so why risk capture?”

Giovanni merely smirked. “I cannot tell you that either. What I can say… is that those reasons, as well as something else recently revealed… I think I know who sponsored this game. As for why and what caused it… I still do not know.”

Blue was shocked. “Then tell me!” 

Giovanni thought. “No, I don’t think I will. Their involvement would mean nothing to you, and doesn’t reveal anything about the mastermind, anyway.”

“What do you mean by sponsored…?” Blue wondered.

“That I won’t tell either.”

Blue was growing frustrated. “Is there anything you can say?”

“I can tell you where to look for Red,” Giovanni responded.

Blue was eager. “Then where?”

“If not even Monomime knows where he is… he must be off the cameras, correct?” Giovanni asked.

Blue nodded. “Yeah…”

“And one person here knows where the cameras do and do not go,” Giovanni said. “I think I’ll leave you now.” With that, the black-suited man walked away, leaving Blue to think.

“Lance!” he realized. “I better go find him…” With that, Blue left, intent on finding Lance.

It didn’t take much searching. The caped man was hurrying across the city when Blue found him.

“Lance!” he waved. The aforementioned Dragon master turned to Blue, waving.

“Oh! Perfect timing!” Lance said. “I was just on my way to check the last place-”

“-where the cameras don’t go?” Blue finished. Upon seeing Lance’s expression, Blue followed up. “I was going to come ask you about that at Giovanni’s recommendation.”

Lance chuckled. “Okay, then. I checked everywhere else without cameras, and there’s only one place left.”

“Where?” Blue asked.

“Saffron Gym,” Lance said. “The inner rooms there have no cameras, and the warp tiles are turned off. However, I think there might be an accessible generator or switch of some sort, for safety. I think it would probably be against building code to have the warp tiles inoperable from the outside.”

Blue thought. “That makes sense. What are we waiting for?”

“Nothing!” Lance said. “Let’s get going.”

The pair headed to the yellow-roofed building that was the Saffron Gym. Blue felt a pang of sadness as he looked at the sign labeling the building as belonging to Sabrina, but he shook it off. “Where do we begin looking?” he asked. “I’ve been in the first room a few times, and I saw nothing of the sort.”

Lance thought. “We should check around back.”

“Got it!” Blue said. The two made their way around back. True enough, there was what appeared to be a generator hooked up to the building. However, it appeared to be turned off. 

“So we need to turn the generator on…?” Lance wondered. “Makes sense.” The Champion looked for the fuel valve, beckoning Blue. The pair found it and turned it on.

“...Do you actually know how to start a generator beyond that?” Blue asked, seeing Lance’s confusion.

Lance sighed. “No, I don’t. Whenever I needed electricity I’d usually just ask one of my Dragonite to use Thunder Wave or Thunderbolt.” 

“Yeah, I get that,” Blue said. “I’d probably use one of Tyranitar’s moves if it came down to it, but I don’t think I ever had that issue.”

“What do we do now?” Lance asked. “Who here would know how to power a generator?”

“I dunno…” Blue said. “Maybe we could ask at the meeting tonight?”

“Sounds good.” Lance nodded. “Well, since we actually have a lead, we should get going. Maybe someone will stop by the Pokemon Center that knows.”

“Got it!” With that, Blue and Lance headed off to the Pokemon Center.

They made idle chatter about their inability to function without their Pokemon. The only person they saw was Lorelei, who came in to fetch something from her room. She shamefully admitted that her Lapras knew Thunder and that was all she needed, before leaving again.

When the meeting time drew closer, Erika was the first to arrive. She sat down with Lance and Blue slowly, before turning towards Blue.

“I’m… sorry for running off last night. I know I probably made you worry… I just… wasn’t feeling good.”

Blue nodded. “It’s okay, really! As long as you’re feeling better.”

“...thanks,” the Grass specialist said.

Soon enough, the others all arrived. They sat down, and Lance stood up. “Does anyone other than Blue and I have something they wish to report?”

Koga stood up. “Today, none of Jessie and I’s tests bore any fruit, but we do have one more test. However, it requires someone else’s help. We want to boil the venom in a closed space to observe how it reacts; however, we lack such a closed space to do so without risking ourselves. Does anyone have any ideas?”

Blue raised a hand. “Yeah! We could- well, Lance didn’t explain yet, but our discovery could help with that!”

“Really?” Koga asked.

Lance caught on. “Yeah! Blue and I realized that, if we could get the Saffron Gym generator hooked up, the warp tile would likely start working again! In there are closed rooms.”

“Why didn’t you hook up the generator, then?” Jessie asked.

“Neither of us… knew how,” Blue admitted.

“Neither did I,” Lorelei contributed.

Jessie sighed. “You- twerps! I’ll show you how in the morning.”

“Sounds like a plan!” Blue said. “So, we all meet up at Saffron Gym tomorrow morning?”

Lance nodded. “Jessie, Koga, bring what you need to. We’re going in there and doing that together. There should be some extra people to guard the generator, just in case. Two people should guard it, preferably one of which can operate it.”

“I’ll come,” Lorelei volunteered. “Jessie can stand guard with me while you run that test.”

Erika piped up. “I’ll- I’ll come as well. I don’t want to be one of the only ones absent.”

Giovanni sighed. “Looks like I’m coming as well. I’ll meet you all there in the morning.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Blue said. After that, the meeting dissolved, and everyone headed off to bed.

Blue awoke in the morning and got his breakfast. He saw Lance and Lorelei, and once he had finished, the three headed to the gym together.

“If the mastermind couldn’t get inside… what do you think is in there?” Lance asked.

“Hopefully Red, or at least evidence that could help us,” Lorelei said. When the three arrived, Giovanni was already there, and Koga and Jessie arrived with a bunsen burner, ring stand, ring clamp, gas tank, and the vial of poison. After a bit of waiting, Erika showed up.

“Everyone’s here?” Lance asked, doing one final count. However, he counted one extra: Monomime had shown up. 

“Ugh, what do you want?” Jessie asked.

Monomime giggled. “Simple! I want to check out what’s in the gym! I’m just as curious as all of you… so I’m going in first!”

“Should we let him-” Blue began.

Monomime interrupted. “And you don’t have a choice!”

Lance sighed. “Jessie, you want to go turn that on?”

The pink-haired Grunt gave a thumbs up. “I thought I was going to show you how, but that can wait. C’mon, Lorelei.” Jessie headed around the side of the building, followed by Lorelei. Soon, they heard her voice yell, “It should be on now!”

Monomime rushed into the building, followed by the five, Koga and Lance carrying the supplies. Monomime stepped on the warp tile and vanished. Almost immediately after he left, the group heard him scream through the walls.

“W-what’s going on?” Erika asked. Lance dashed onto and stepped on the tile, and the others followed shortly. What they saw…

...was awful.

Red was lying there, seemingly uninjured except for one thing: he was shriveled up. 

Monomime was freaking out, and Erika screamed. Blue dropped to his knees. 

“No… announcement?” Koga wondered.

“Look at him,” Giovanni pointed out. He gestured at the panicked Monomime. “I don’t think he’s… in a well enough state of mind for that just yet.”

Somewhere else entirely, Janine was growing bored. Their leader had told her and the others to wait and be always ready, but… without any attacks, things were getting boring. However, no sooner had she gotten up to go get a snack than Xatu let out a squawk.

She looked at the others. No words passed between them. They all knew it was time.]

“Good luck,” Ariana said. “Get them back.”

With a nod, Janine and the other rushed to Xatu, who, in Monomime’s fervor, could Teleport them right into the city. It raised its wings, and-

-she was suddenly somewhere else. In front of Silph Co., with the others. Xatu swayed, and fell over.

“Xatu!” Will cried. “Oh, whatever happened… that field wasn’t disrupted enough to keep her from suffering burnout…”

“But look at this,” Archer said. “We’re here.”

“Now, all we have to do is find someone!” Janine said.

“Where should we start looking?” Will asked.

“The Pokemon Center,” Archer responded. “Someone will likely be there.”

“We can’t leave Xatu!” Will cried. “She’ll- be taken!”

“Help me lift her,” Janine said. “We can carry her together; she’s not that heavy.”

Archer looked troubled, even as the other two lifted the bird Pokemon. “What caused the defenses to drop so suddenly? What did she do?” 

As the trio started moving, they were interrupted by something that made their heads turn and their blood run cold.

“A- a body has been discovered! Everyone, report to the Saffron Gym! Even you, newcomers…”


	19. Chapter 5: Deadly Life

When the announcement had gone off, Lance’s head snapped up to look at the speakers. “Newcomers…?” he wondered. “What does that mean?”

Jessie and Lorelei appeared on the warp panel. “We heard the announcement, what happ-” Jessie cut herself off upon seeing Red. “O-oh…”

Lorelei sighed. “Another murder… so brutal, too…”

Monomime warped in. “There you are!” Lance said. “Care to explain-”

“Not till everyone gets here!” the Pokemon said.

“But everyone is here-” Koga began, only for Monomime to cut him off.

“Nope! Just wait and see…” 

“Well, in the meantime, we can start investigating, right?” Lorelei said. Everyone else (except Blue and Erika, still shellshocked) nodded. The group looked around the room. Giovanni, Lorelei, and Koga started investigating the corpse, while the others looked for other clues. 

Jessie was the first to find something: the wall that led to the outside of the building was covered in marks. She beckoned Lance over. “What do you think these are?” she asked.

Lance thought. “It’s likely… Red tried to break out.”

Koga stood up and came over. “I couldn’t help but overhear… that’s consistent with what we found. Red is showing severe symptoms of dehydration, and that’s likely how he died. However, in addition to that… his arms and legs are covered in bruises.”

“So…” Jessie said. “Either he was in a bad struggle… or he was trying to escape for a long time…”

Everyone fell silent. Giovanni investigated a bit more, coming up empty-handed. 

“Hey, Monomime?” Jessie asked. “What’s going on?”

Monomime thought. “They should be here by now… are they lugging-”

As he said that, with a flash, Janine, Archer, Will, and the unconscious Xatu appeared on the warp tile. Everyone (except Blue, Giovanni, and Monomime) gasped.

“F-father?” Janine stuttered out, putting Xatu down gently. “Is it r-really you?”

Koga said nothing, just walking up and hugging Janine. 

“Sorry for my late arrival, Boss,” Archer said.

Giovanni nodded. “Better late than never.

“H-how did you-” Lance wondered.

“Good to see you, Lance,” Will finished setting Xatu down, and turned to Lance. “We got in-” He stopped, his hand flying to his mouth, staring at Red. “Is- is that what I think it is?”

Monomime interrupted this reunion. “Uggghh, you all are boring me to tears. Listen up! These three are new participants in the killing game!”

Archer didn’t react, instead curiously studying Monomime. Janine and Will, however, paled.

Monomime chuckled. “Yep! Now there are ten people remaining! Although, it’ll be nine soon…”

Janine broke from her father’s grasp. “No! I won’t be a part of this!” She took a Poke Ball out. “Drapion, go!” The Poke Ball clicked uselessly. Janine stepped back, shocked.

“Oh, my dear Janine… you will participate!” Monomime said. “You seriously didn’t think I’d have set up some precautions, did you?”

“Aether tech…” Archer grumbled.

“So… are you going to give us the file?” Koga questioned. 

“Well…” Monomime looked awkward. “You see… the killer here did it so subtly that even I don’t know who did it! I know four people who didn’t do it, but aside from that, I have no clue. So… here’s how this will work! If you vote one of the four who didn’t do it… you will suffer regular consequences for failure. However, if you vote someone who could have done it… they and they alone will be executed, whether they committed the crime or not!”

“Wait… does that mean-” Janine began, only for Monomime to cut her off.

“Now, get to investigating! I’ll take the mystic here to the infirmary!” With that, he vanished, and Xatu along with him.

“No!” Will cried.

“Was Monomime… glowing?” Archer asked.

“Hm?” Lance noticed. “I… never noticed that. This is the darkest room he’s been in…”

“Back up…” Janine said. “If we’re the only ones left… and Red is dead… what happened to the other eight people?”

Giovanni counted. “James was murdered by Misty, Misty was executed. Agatha was murdered by Brock, Brock was executed. Sabrina was murdered by Bruno, who was revealed to be a traitor and executed. Surge was murdered by Blaine, and finally Blaine was executed.”

“I- so this is…” Will trailed off.

“The fifth time, yes,” Lorelei sighed. 

“Shouldn’t we get to investigating?” Jessie asked.

“No point,” Lance said. “Everyone combed the entire city, and you can’t die of dehydration in that short of a time.”

“Wait, back up. Sabrina was murdered?” Will said. “By a traitor?”

“Yeah…” Lance said. “Why?”

“No reason,” Will said. “Was she acting… odd, in any way?”

“Now that you mention it, she was strangled in her sleep because she was psychically burned out…” Lorelei said. “Why?”

Will sighed. “No, no reason.”

“Now, how did you get in here?” Koga asked. “I presume that Xatu was connected to it.”

“We waited for a gap in the psychic field caused by Monomime lowering his defenses, and then Xatu warped us in!” Janine said.

“It still got burned out, though, because the field just lessened,” Will contributed.

“So… Red’s body discovery shocked Monomime enough to get him to drop his protections…” Lance said. “Was the field psychically powered? How was Monomime unaffected?”

“Yes and we have no idea,” Archer said. 

“If there’s no more evidence…” Lance thought. “Will we have to rely on mostly accounts?”

Something occurred to Koga. “Would you three be able to identify something for us?”

Will hummed. “I think so, but what would you not be able to identify?”

Koga produced the vial. “This.”

Janine gasped, and Will put a hand on his mouth. “You… don’t know what that is…?” the psychic asked.

“No…” Jessie said. “Should we?”

“Yeah, you should,” Janine said. “That’s… Symbiont toxin.”

Koga was intrigued. “What’s that? It rings no bells.”

“You- don’t know Symbiont? Subject 1? Does that ring any bells?” Janine asked. Everyone shook their heads. “But that means- how much do you remember?”

“Last we all remember is the day before the PWT,” Lance contributed. Everyone else nodded.

Archer thought. “So, you have amnesia, too… that’s unexpected.”

“H-how much have we forgotten about?” Erika asked.

“Quite a bit…” Will said. “The PWT, the return from it, and-”

“...do you really not remember the-” Janine began, only to be cut off again.

“Okay, that’s enough! Report to the Silph Co. elevator please!” Monomime announced with glee.

“We better get going,” Giovanni sighed. 

“How do these trials work?” Archer inquired.

“And what all has happened so far here?” Will asked.

“We can explain everything on the way to the trial,” Lance said. The group left the gym, Blue trailing behind, silent. The six other original participants explained what had happened so far as they headed to Silph. When they entered the lobby, the elevator was open.

“Is… that it?” Janine asked. “The gateway to the trial room?”

Lance nodded and stepped into the elevator. “Let’s- just get this over with.” 

The other nine stepped in, and the elevator shook and began descending into the earth, taking the ten participants, seven old, three new, towards the fifth trial.


	20. Chapter 5: Trial

The first person to say anything was Erika. “So… Red was murdered…”

“We owe it to him to bring his killer to justice,” Lance said.

Jessie nodded. “We have some extra help, now, too!”

“I- I don’t know how much help we’ll be,” Janine said.

Will thought. “After all, we did just get here.”

“We will certainly try to help,” Archer said.

Lorelei nodded. “After this trial, you will surely be very helpful.”

“And, at least you’re okay,” Koga said.

Blue muttered something. “I’ll…”

“Hm?” Giovanni asked.

Blue couldn’t answer, though, as the elevator doors opened to reveal the trial room.

There was a notable change in the trial room: as there were still only sixteen spots, James’s, Agatha’s, and Sabrina’s portraits had been moved back, away from the others. Their former places were now labeled as Archer’s, Janine’s, and Will’s, respectively. Everyone took their places, the newcomers uneasily, and the trial began.

“We have some newcomers among us, so let me explain the rules again!” Monomime exclaimed. “Your votes will determine the results. If you can figure out the murderer then only they will receive punishment. But if you pick an innocent that I know couldn’t have done it... then I'll punish everyone except for the mastermind!”

“So… Where do we begin?” Jessie asked.

“I think we should start with a timeframe,” Lance said.

-NONSTOP DEBATE: START!-

“So… if Red died by dehydration…” Koga thought.

“We already know that he was trapped for a while,” Will supplied.

“It’s obvious that the cause of death was him being trapped without water…” Jessie said.

“Dehydration takes three days,” Archer said. 

“So… Red was trapped three days ago!” Janine exclaimed.

“That is correct.”

-CONSENT: JANINE & LORELEI-

-BREAK-

“Red was last seen after the third trial, three days ago,” Lorelei said. “He never showed up to the party.”

“S-so… someone trapped him in that room then!” Erika said.

“That means Blue, Janine, Will, and Archer are all innocent,” Lance said.

-NONSTOP DEBATE: START-

“Then we have six remaining suspects!” Will exclaimed.

“Koga, Giovanni, Lance, Erika, Jessie, and me,” Lorelei counted.

“How can we narrow it down more…?” Jessie wondered.

“We could gather alibis, but I’d rather use direct evidence,” Jessie said.

“We’re out of that,” Janine said.

“No, that’s wrong!”

-COUNTER: LANCE-

-BREAK-

“Hm?” Will asked. 

“The generator,” Lance said. “None of Blue, Lorelei, or I could have activated it and deactivated it again.”

“Are you sure that’s not a lie?” Archer asked.

-NONSTOP DEBATE: START-

“I- why would you say that?” Lance was taken aback.

“Think about it,” Archer said. “If the killer, you or Lorelei, knew Red was in there, still dying, wouldn’t it make sense for you to delay it as long as possible?”

Lorelei was worried. “That’s absurd!”

“I’m not saying we should completely throw that out, but… maybe you shouldn’t just trust what everyone says,” Archer summed up.

“So… Lance or Lorelei could have done it?” Janine asked.

“Shut up.”

-COUNTER: BLUE-

-BREAK-

Everyone turned to Blue. This was the first he’d spoken all trial. His facial expression was dark.

“Shut up,” he repeated. “Stop throwing around false accusations. With all your prattle about trust, there’s something you neglected.”

Archer was shocked. “Wh-what would that be?”

“The risk,” Blue said. “Lance brought me, someone who could not have committed the crime, to the generator, without knowing whether I could do it or not. That would be too much of a risk. Lance likely did not commit the crime.”

“That’s not evidence, though,” Janine pointed out.

“It’s as much evidence as accusing someone of baseless lies,” Blue said. “Now, let’s move on.”

“What do we have to go on?” Jessie asked. Privately, she was looking at Archer. Accusations like that weren’t how she remembered him acting… wait a minute.

“Could we use the party?” Lorelei asked. 

Erika nodded. “Th-that makes sense!”

“On that note… something occurred to me,” Koga said.

“What?” Janine asked.

“Blaine and Surge were alive at the party,” Koga said. “They could have done it.”

“You’re right…” Jessie said, uneasily.

“We’ll see whether they did it when the time comes,” Giovanni said.

“What next?” Blue asked. “Hurry up.”

“Well, we have a timeframe…” Lance said. “We could go through everyone’s alibis!”

Jessie nodded. “I, for one, was preparing with Erika basically the whole time between the third trial and the party.”

Erika nodded. “Th-that’s correct. Lorelei showed up later to help, too.”

“So, I’m next?” Lorelei asked. “I was with Lance and Koga at the beginning, and then went to help Jessie and Erika.”

“That’s… not airtight,” Will said. “You could have easily gone somewhere else between them.”

“Back on track,” Lance said. “Koga and I were indeed with Lorelei, and after she left we were together the whole time.”

Koga nodded. “That is what happened, yes.”

“So… the killer is one of Giovanni, Lorelei, Blaine, or Surge,” Janine said. 

Will thought for a moment. “I know this may seem irrelevant, but I have a question.”

“Yeah?” Jessie asked.

“Why was Sabrina burned out?” he asked.

“She… did something psychic,” Lance recalled.

Lorelei spoke up. “Giovanni refused to tell us. He knows what it was.”

Will was puzzled. “Hm…”

“Why do you ask?” Koga inquired.

“No reason,” the Psychic trainer waved off.

“Let’s get back on track,” Blue said. “Giovanni… Lorelei… can either of you prove yourself innocent?”

Lorelei nodded. “I can prove myself innocent. I went nowhere between seeing Koga and Lance and Erika and Jessie. Koga, Lance, how long were we talking?”

“I don’t remember exactly,” Lance said, “But we were far from the Pokemon Center where Jessie and Erika were.”

“Yeah…” Jessie remembered. “I don’t think Lorelei was gone long enough to commit a murder. Plus, she has that extra layer backing her up: the generator thing.”

“What do we have to go on now?” Janine asked.

“The order of people who arrived at the party,” Lorelei said. “I was inside for some of it, but Jessie saw everyone as they arrived.”

Jessie nodded. “I can do that.”

-NONSTOP DEBATE: START-

Jessie thought. “So, after Lorelei, Erika, and I… Lance and Koga showed up first. Blaine was next and then Surge. Lastly… the boss.”

“So… Giovanni’s the obvious suspect!” Lance said.

“Care to explain yourself?” Lorelei asked.

Archer was nervous. “Wait. Just because he showed up late… there was still enough time for Blaine or Surge to commit the murder.”

“Why was he late, though?” Koga asked.

Giovanni looked neutral. “I lost track of time. That is the truth.”

“That’s… suspicious…” Erika said.

“Overall, Blaine or Surge could still have committed the crime!” Jessie exclaimed. “Your accusations are baseless!”

“Losing is not an option!”

-COUNTER: WILL-

-BREAK-

Will looked fierce. “Give it up, Archer. You know as well as I do that it was Giovanni that committed the crime.”

Archer was taken aback. “What do you mean?”

“What evidence could you have that we don’t?” Lorelei said.

Will sighed. “Janine. You know what I’m talking about, right?”

She nodded. “Yeah… I think so.”

“Would you explain, please?” Blue asked. 

Will looked. “Should I…?”

Janine nodded. “It’s all in the past, and no rules were broken… I think you’re fine.”

“I might as well go over the whole case from start to finish,” Will offered. “Maybe that’ll convince you all.”

Lance rose a hand. “I’ll help when needed.”

-CLOSING ARGUMENT(?): BEGIN-

Will thought. “When to begin… When we first managed to regroup after the Incursion, you guys were nowhere to be found. Bruno had contacted us and interviewed some of us, and… well, we didn’t know what to do. When there were ominous messages coming out of Saffron and each of you were being taken… Archer managed to worm some information out of Bruno when he came to take him. From that, we learned about the plans for a killing game… and we soon found out about the looming threat of Subject 7. That’s when we decided we had to break in, and we left Indigo Plateau. When we reached the city, we found out that there was a psychic suppression field on the city. We elected to get a message in through any means possible. I burned myself and my Gardevoir and Grumpig out attempting it, but we managed to get a message through to the easiest mind to reach: Sabrina. She knew that there was a target on her back for attempting this, and saying anything out loud would only make that stronger. So, as she said to me, she was going to transmit the info we gave her to someone else. That someone else was the last person to meet with her before her death; she likely burned herself out via sending telepathy to them; initiating telepathy is a lot more tiring than receiving it. At that point, the killer knew how to allow us entrance, and did it as soon as he could: setting up something that would cause Monomime to drop his psychic powering of the suppression field, even for a second.”

Lance chimed in. “He did this by conducting a murder in a place without cameras: the Saffron Gym. After the third trial, he tricked Red into following him in, and then he sealed it off. He showed up late to Jessie’s party due to this. Over the next three days, the fourth trial occurred and we investigated to no end, only finding Red after he had died of dehydration. That shocked Monomime to his core, allowing Will, Archer, and Janine to teleport in with Xatu.”

Will picked it back up. “While the killer’s plan was nearly foolproof, I don’t think he actually intends to win this trial. The murderer of Red…”

“…the last person to meet with Sabrina before her murder by Bruno…” Lance contributed.

“…they can only be one person. It’s you, isn’t it, Giovanni?” Will finished. 

-COMPLETE-

-BREAK-

Janine nodded. “That sounds right…”

“So… that’s it, then?” Koga asked. “Giovanni murdered Red?”

“No!” Jessie yelled.

“What…?” Will asked.

“I refuse to believe it!” Jessie said. “The Boss wouldn’t kill anyone- not directly!”

Archer nodded. “Jessie’s right. Blaine or Surge are still suspects.”

“But- Archer, I told the truth!” Will said. “You know that!”

“Do I?” Archer asked.

“You can’t just go around accusing someone random of murder just to get him out of the way!” Jessie said. “Prepare for trouble!”

-DUAL CONVICTION CONUNDRUM: START-

“I told the truth!” Will said. “Giovanni was clearly the one who received Sabrina’s message! He has to be the killer!”

“Do you know that for certain?” Archer asked.

“I do,” Koga said. “I saw Giovanni exit Sabrina’s room.”

“It could’ve been someone else!” Jessie claimed. “You don’t know that he was the only one!”

“The timeframe for the third murder shows that that has to be the case,” Lorelei said.

“We didn’t see Sabrina for a while, though!” Jessie said. “The killer could have come in earlier!”

“Why would Giovanni be alone with Sabrina while she was burnt out?” Lance asked.

“Maybe he was stealing from her, or was planning to meet with her!” Jessie defended.

“That’s- okay, tell me something,” Janine said. “We’ve gotten off track. Archer, why are you denying the truth?”

“Truth?” Archer said. “Since when was Will’s summary the truth?”

“Since he mentioned something that we didn’t: the fact that he was originally going to be part of the game!” Lance exclaimed.

“That was a lucky guess,” Archer countered. 

“It- it very clearly wasn’t,” Erika said. “Give it up!”

“No!” Jessie exclaimed. “I know the Boss is innocent!”

“What makes you say that?” Janine asked. “All the evidence points to him!”

“He’s not the type to get his hands dirty like that!” Jessie defended. 

“Whether he’s the ‘type’ or not doesn’t matter,” Blue said. “He killed Red. Shut the fuck up.”

“On the contrary,” Archer said, “You never disproved Blaine or Surge being the culprit. Therefore, if Giovanni isn’t the type, it actually is valuable evidence.”

“You’re ignoring the most important fact: I saw Giovanni meet with Sabrina!” Koga exclaimed.

“You only saw him enter her room… you don’t know why! She might not have been there!” Archer rebutted.

“You can’t talk,” Lorelei said. “You weren’t even here.”

“No, but I know what’s going on outside. The Boss didn’t murder Red,” Archer said.

“I told everyone what was happening outside and how it connected!” Will rebutted. “Just shut up!”

“I don’t think you were telling the truth. I think you and Janine just want Giovanni out of your way,” Jessie responded.

“L-listen to yourself, Jessie!” Erika said. “That’s completely baseless!”

“So are your accusations,” Archer merely responded.

“Would you just shut the fuck up? Giovanni murdered him. No ifs, ands, or buts.” Blue was furious.

“That’s- you’re wrong!” Jessie said.

Giovanni was the only one who hadn’t spoken yet. “Give it up.”

Jessie was taken aback. “Wh-what?”

“As the boss of Team Rocket,” Giovanni said, “I order you to give it up.”

Archer nodded. “I- I understand.”

-FULL COUNTER-

-BREAK-

“So… that’s it, then?” Janine asked.

Giovanni nodded. “You caught me. Now vote me; I don’t want to drag this out.”

“But- Boss, why?” Jessie wailed. “Why’d you do it?”

“I thought that should be obvious. What are you waiting for?” he asked. “Vote me off already.”

Monomime nodded. “Now, everyone, I think it’s well and decided? Cast your votes!” The sixteen buttons appeared although Agatha’s, Sabrina’s, and James’s had been replaced with clearly rushed images of Janine, Will, and Archer. Everyone cast their votes.

“And the one who almost all of you voted was…” Monomime read dramatically. “Giovanni, former Gym Leader of Viridian City, former boss of Team Rocket, and current boss of Team Rainbow Rocket!”

“Boss!” Jessie cried. “Why?”

Giovanni did not respond. Monomime smirked. “Well, I’m glad you all managed to out the killer that outsmarted me. You know what it’s time for, right?”

Jessie was shaking. “WAIT!!”

“Good fucking riddance,” Blue hissed.

Monomime’s expression twisted. “It’s… PUNISHMENT TIME!!!”

A chute opened, taking Giovanni to his execution. The screen flicked to life, displaying a name. 

_Quaking Up the Leadership_  
Giovanni found himself behind a desk in a room that resembled a larger version of his office from the Celadon Hideout. The floor was made of bare earth. Across the room was a bunch of Rocket Grunts jeering and hissing angrily, standing between Giovanni and the door. Some were holding weapons, others torches. They yelled things like “You abandoned us!” and “You’re a terrible boss!”

Giovanni stood up, spying his objective, and strode towards the crowd. One Grunt stomped his foot angrily, and the vibration echoed around the room. Other Grunts caught on, and pretty soon the whole room was quaking. They jabbed at Giovanni with their torches and weapons as he made a break for it. He tripped and fell and got his leg sliced open. He hobbled to his feet and continued running, even as the quakes started creating fissures. Soon, he was bleeding all over. However, he almost made it to the door. One last Rocketeer stood in the way of his goal: Executive Proton, the cruelest in Team Rocket. He was holding a knife. He rushed towards Giovanni, who dove to the ground. Proton stabbed his hand into the floor but tripped and fell due to the quake, falling into a fissure. Giovanni, with a grimace, removed the knife. He put his hand on the escape door-

-and the cameras stopped.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You didn't need the overview anyway, right?
> 
> I hope everyone's ready for Chapter 6!


	21. Interlude E

“How’s Karen?” Ariana asked, seeing her partner get off the phone.

“Things are going… well enough for her,” he said. “She fended off a Burst the other day, not long after we called her; it’s been rather quiet otherwise. Her Absol is coming in handy.”

Ariana sighed. “That, at least, is a relief.”

“What of 07?” he asked. 

“No change. Still on its way. It’s in those three’s hands now,” she reported. “I trust the send-off went well?”

“As well as I know it can; I’m not on the other side,” he responded.

“That’s good,” Ariana nodded.

“Do you think they can do it?” the blue-haired man asked.

“Hmm… I-” Ariana began, but was interrupted by her computer wailing, followed immediately by Archer’s phone ringing off the hook.

Ariana’s partner grabbed the phone, while Ariana herself peered over the data, making a quick keystroke to turn off the alarm.

“Huh…?” the man listened. “Absol…? Oh no.”

Ariana and her partner paled simultaneously. “We’ve got-” 

The uniformed man nodded. “Problems? Yes. Karen’s on the line. Her Absol just detected something. Something big.”

“Subject 7 sped up!” Ariana reported. “It’ll be there… by the end of tomorrow!”

“Who else can defend Indigo Plateau?”

Karen’s voice echoed from the phone, now on speaker. “I will send word to Blackthorn. The Ace Trainers can hold on until Clair arrives. I’ll be there on Honchkrow as soon as I can.” With that, she hung up.

Ariana sighed. “We have to go hold it off. Provide as much time as possible.”

“Are you sure?” her partner asked. “That’s too much of a risk for me to condone.”

Ariana brandished a Poke Ball. “I’m sure. You stay here and monitor things; I’ll take any extra Pokemon you can spare to slow the thing down.”

He held out two Poke Balls. “Here’s Weezing and Magmortar. I’ll hold onto the other three, just in case.”

Ariana nodded. “Combine that with my four, and I have six. I’ll be back. Call me if there’s trouble.” she said, grabbing the two Poke Balls from him. “Honchkrow!” she released, getting astride it and flying away.

Her partner sighed. “Golbat, Houndoom, Electrode, we’re on our own. Don’t let anything unfamiliar near this building.” He released the Pokemon in question, sighing.

“I hope they don’t screw this up…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wasn't originally planning to have one last interlude, but I decided it would be a good idea, so here it is!


	22. Chapter 6: Daily Life

Everyone stood, open-mouthed.

“He’s-” Koga began.

“Alive!” Jessie yelled. “He survived!”

“We don’t know that,” Archer said. “As much as I would like that, he is suffering severe blood loss.”

“Why were those Rocket Grunts there?” Lance asked. He rounded on Monomime. “Have you- been keeping them in there?”

“They’re fakes,” Archer coldly denounced. “Proton is dead. I watched him die.”

“What?” Lorelei asked. 

Meanwhile, Monomime was panicking. “Uh… That wasn’t- supposed to happen…”

“I agree,” Blue said. “He deserved to die there.”

Will, standing next to Blue, stared. “Uh-”

Monomime calmed down. “Okay, you need to leave. I have something I need to do.”

“Already? But-” Janine began.

“Now.”

Nobody said anything; they all got into the elevator with little protest. When they got out of the elevator, a few people tried leaving, but Blue got in front of the door. “No.”

“Get out of my way,” Jessie said pointedly.

Blue refused. “No. The mastermind is one of us… rather, one of you,” he said, gesturing at Erika, Koga, Jessie, Lance, and Lorelei. “If we let you all run unchecked… one of you will report to Monomime. Figure out his crisis with him.”

“That’s… a good point,” Archer said. “From now on, every person who could be the mastermind has to be with someone who isn’t.”

Jessie nodded. “...I understand.”

“What are we going to do, then?” Lorelei asked.

“Will… you mentioned several things in your summary that intrigued me,” Lorelei said. “Care to explain more?” 

“Let’s go to the Pokemon Center, i-if we’re going to do that,” Erika suggested. “If we get hungry, there’s food there.”

“Good point,” Koga said. “Let’s get going.”

The group, now down to nine, trudged to the Pokemon Center. One out of them was privately seething but kept that emotion to themselves.

When they entered the Pokemon Center, the group took up different spots around the room. Will stood in the center, flanked by Janine and Archer.

“I suppose… we owe you all a long-overdue explanation,” Will said. “Of the outside world… we thought you knew.”

“You didn’t know about the amnesia?” Lance asked.

“No, otherwise our plan would have been… quite different,” Janine said.

“We’re getting off track,” Archer said. “We need to tell the story.”

“Right,” Will said. “How many of you are familiar with the Aether Foundation?”

“They’re… that conservation group in Alola, right?” Lorelei said.

“I remember reading about their artificial island,” Lance supplied. “I’ve heard it’s a paradise for Pokemon.”

“The Aether Foundation created the Poke Ball suppression technology used in this game,” Will said. “In an event that is now called the start of the Incursion, the Aether Foundation used technology to open something called an Ultra Wormhole.”

“The… Incursion? Ultra Wormhole?” Erika wondered.

“To make a long story short,” Archer explained, “An Ultra Wormhole is a portal to other realities. Ones with horrifying, powerful aliens.”

“Alola’s powerful Trainers tried to stop it, but it did not cease,” Janine said. “More and more of these aliens, known as Ultra Beasts, poured into our world. It wasn’t long before Aether’s technology spread and summoned Ultra Beasts elsewhere.”

Everyone was shocked. “So… is that what Brock meant…?” Lance asked. “Did he… know?”

“We can’t say,” Will said. “We weren’t here for that part.”

“Are Ultra Beasts… Pokemon?” Blue asked. 

“Sort of?” Janine said. “They definitely have types and use attacks, but… their appearance and other capabilities are completely alien, and Poke Balls fail to work on them.”

“A lot of them are on par with the strongest of Pokemon,” Archer said. “There are eleven known types, although two are related by evolution.”

“They don’t have names,” Will said, “So we just call them by code names or subject numbers.”

“Subject numbers…” Lance remembered. “Like 1 or 6? We found information relating to both.”

“Subject 6 is also known as Blade. It’s a small, intelligent creature that takes the appearance of folded origami and can cut through anything,” Archer said.

“We found a material study about a weird paper-like metal,” Jessie said. “So… that would be it?”

“Most likely,” Will said. “We can explain more about the Ultra Beasts later, as there are two that are immediately relevant, but not until later in our story.”

“Alright,” Jessie said.

“Most places worldwide were not prepared to handle the plague that was the Incursion of Ultra Beasts. Almost every one is incredibly dangerous for one reason or another. For that reason, most civilians who survived the onslaught were evacuated to safe, easily defensible locations where they could be watched over by powerful trainers,” Archer explained.

“Like… us?” Blue guessed.

“Yeah,” Will said. “Most Kanto civilians who survived were evacuated to Indigo Plateau. Johto civilians went to one of a few locations; the Johto Safari Zone and Blackthorn City in particular.”

“Some looters and others chose to stay in the outside world at their own risk, and Team Rocket was completely unaccounted for,” Janine said. “Father, you, me and Surge, were some of those people. We searched for survivors and brought them back to the Plateau.”

“One day… we noticed something suspicious,” Will said. “Bruno was asking around about every person’s whereabouts and interviewed several people. We thought that was weird, but we put it out of our minds. Until Koga and Surge never came back from their routine sweep.”

Koga gasped. “So that would be…”

Janine nodded. “I was sick with a cold that day, so I hadn’t gone out. Blue, Brock, Lance, and Red went searching for them… they didn’t come back either.”

“I suppose it’s my turn,” Archer said. “Team Rocket had been hiding out in our base in Mahogany Town. We were planning on reconstruction but elected to hide instead. Proton, the executive mocked in our Boss’s execution, died during the defense.”

Jessie gasped.

“That’s not all,” Archer said. “One day, Bruno showed up. We were unsure of how he found us, and he attacked us. His raw strength was no match for us, especially when he had brought his Poke Ball suppression field with him. He took Giovanni. I was out on a patrol with two Grunts at the time. When we spied Bruno leaving, he sprinted right up. The two Grunts… they held him off so I could escape. Bruno had come for me, but he took them instead.”

“And those two Grunts would be…?” Lance asked.

“Jessie and James,” Will said. 

“So… they were the unplanned entry?” Lorelei asked. “But… that means the unplanned entry wasn’t the mastermind!”

“Either way,” Will said, “Bruno returned to Indigo Plateau. We had just thought he was searching for Koga and Surge… he brought them with him, tied up. Someone at Indigo Plateau… they set up Poke Ball suppression fields everywhere, and Bruno activated them. Lorelei, you were the one on guard duty… he overwhelmed you before you had a chance to resist.”

Lorelei gasped. “I- I am so sorry, everyone.”

“It’s not your fault,” Koga assured.

“Either way,” Janine said, “That someone who remained behind… Bruno referred to them as his boss. We now know it to be one of you…”

“Bruno had Koga, Lance, and Lorelei,” Will said. “Anyone who got near him… without their Pokemon, only Janine and Sabrina stood a chance.”

“Misty, being the hothead she is, rushed in without realizing. Bruno got her too. He issued an ultimatum…” Janine said. “If Agatha, Blaine, Erika, and Sabrina didn’t come alone to Saffron City… the people he had would die.”

“We, of course, did not give in!” Will said. “I stayed behind to help Karen defend the place, but Janine went along.”

Janine nodded, trembling. “When I got there… Bruno had a new Pokemon. It came from this strange Poke Ball… he had captured a Subject 1. A Symbiont. We had let our Pokemon out ahead of time, but… he cut straight to the point. He had his Pokemon attack… us. He also had… Misty’s Pokemon. They obeyed him without question. I found myself on the receiving end of Symbiont’s attacks, so I had to flee. No doubt because I wasn’t called for.”

Will sighed. “Bruno’s Pokemon took the rest of you captive, and recalled the Pokemon… Janine did learn some crucial things in the process.”

Janine stood up. “Yeah. I stole a dropped radio and listened in… that’s when I learned about the Killing Game.”

“We showed up later,” Archer said, “Petrel and Ariana and I. We offered to help, Janine and Will were in no place to refuse. When the barriers and psychic suppression field went up… we noticed something. By far the most dangerous Ultra Beast, Subject 7, suddenly started heading for the city.”

“Subject 7?” Koga asked.

“Glutton,” Will said. “It’s a hulking, 20-foot behemoth. Its mouth is most of its body, and everything else that isn’t its eyes and feet is seemingly designed to help it shovel things into its mouth. It will eat anything and everything. One ate a mountain. One… well, that one’s the reason why there’s no more Ula’Ula Island. Nobody’s taken one down; they had to retreat. We do not know its typing; nobody’s stuck around to face it in battle.”

“It’s heading… here?” Erika asked. “Why?”

“We… don’t know,” Janine admitted. “But we do need to get out of here soon before it devours us all!”

“That must be the time limit Monomime mentioned!” Lance realized.

“We- we’re all going to die?” Erika asked, trembling. 

“Monomime probably doesn’t want the game to be cut short,” Lorelei said. “We could use this to our advantage.”

“You mean like… uncover the mastermind through a final trial? Escape by killing them?” Blue asked.

“That… could work,” Archer admitted.

“How else could we escape?” Lance asked. “Or… is that the only option?”

“Xatu could help,” Will said, “but I don’t know where she is!”

“I think that’s our best bet,” Jessie said. 

“I don’t think it sounds too possible,” Lorelei said. 

“It’s our last shot!” Jessie exclaimed. “Let’s just try, okay?”

Lorelei nodded. “Okay.”

Blue raised a hand. “Koga, Erika, Jessie, Lance, and Lorelei should each be with one of the proven safe people at all times.”

“If we split into groups…” Janine thought. “I’ll go with Father!” Koga nodded. 

Jessie raised a hand. “I’ll go with Archer!”

“We’ll need a group of three,” Lance pointed out. “Lorelei, Will, do you want to investigate together?”

Lorelei and Will nodded. “Sounds good.”

“So that leaves you and me, Erika!” Blue said.

“We’ll go tell Monomime,” Koga offered. 

“Before everyone goes, there’s one more thing we need to explain,” Will said. “Symbiont.”

“Oh, right,” Jessie said. “You mentioned that that was the venom we found, right?”

Janine nodded. “Symbiont, or Subject 1, is a Rock- and Poison-type Ultra Beast. It resembles a weird, glassy Jellicent-like creature with a smaller head and much larger tentacles, and is only the size of a human. However, its venom… is strange. It’s a dangerous neurotoxin.”

“A neurotoxin…?” Koga asked. “Very few Pokemon use those… not even the Galarian forms of Slowbro and Slowking do!”

“What does this neurotoxin do?” Blue asked.

“Well,” Janine said, “for one, it’s highly addictive; if you’ve had it once, you’ll want it again. Two… in higher, concentrated doses, it’s lethal. In lower doses… it merely changes your eye color, with the only outward appearance change being glowing yellow eyes.”

“Yellow…?” Lance wondered. “Like… Bruno and- Monomime’s eyes glow yellow too, right before executions!”

Janine nodded. “Yeah. Symbiont toxin… it escalates a part of your personality to the point that it becomes… bad. The Aether President had her maternal nature escalated to the point that she became a control freak… Bruno had his self-hate and desire to help escalated to the point where he became uncanny… It affects everyone differently.”

“So… if both Bruno and Monomime are taking Symbiont toxin, that means the mastermind probably is too,” Koga said. “That… could that be their motivation?”

“That’s plausible,” Will said. “After all, Lusamine caused the Incursion because of it.”

“That’s… good to know, I suppose,” Lance said. “So… now we’re on a strict time limit. Let’s get going. Koga, Janine, you go tell Monomime. The rest of us… we’ll go investigate.”

The group nodded and split off, ready to end this killing game.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is mostly exposition, but the investigation is starting so this is the best spot to split it. Enjoy!


	23. Chapter 6: Deadly Life

“Monomime!” Koga called.

Koga and Janine waited outside the Pokemon Center. Soon, Monomime showed up. “What is it? I’m busy right now!”

Janine nodded. “I’m sure you’re aware of the Glutton?” she asked.

Monomime thought. “Yeah. What about it?”

“We have… a challenge related to that,” Koga said. “Glutton’s going to end the game soon… and we thought that would be anticlimactic.”

“Yeah…” Monomime looked dejected. “I just don’t know what to do about that! I need this game to finish before it gets here!”

“You do?” Koga asked. “I wasn’t expecting that.”

“I have… someone waiting for me,” Monomime explained. “If that thing gets ahold of me… I’ll never see her again…”

The two ninjas were baffled. Monomime was… sympathizing with them? Showing weakness?

“Are you… alright?” Janine asked.

Monomime sighed. “No. But… what did you come to ask?”

“Oh, right!” Janine said. “We were thinking… if nobody wants the game to end abruptly, why don’t we have one final trial?”

“You mean… as a grand sendoff?” Monomime asked. 

Koga nodded. “A trial to find the mastermind.”

Monomime thought, before perking up. “Hm… why not! That’ll make this more fun! I can’t let you back into that basement, but I’ll scatter all those unused files!”

“When will the trial be?” Koga asked.

“First thing tomorrow!” Monomime responded.

“Understood,” Koga said. Monomime warped away.

An announcement echoed. “Attention, participants! The fifteen remaining files have been scattered. There will be a final trial tomorrow!”

“Do you think he’ll keep his word?” Janine asked.

“Only time will tell,” Koga responded. The pair headed off to search for the files.

Jessie listened to the announcement, before turning to Archer. “Well, let’s go.”

Archer nodded.

The more Jessie looked, the more- but if she asked him, wouldn’t that reveal it? She didn’t remember much about how-

“What’re you thinking about?” Archer asked her.

“Oh, uh…” Jessie stuttered. She gestured to Archer. “I dunno. How weird it is that you’re here.”

“Still not over it?” Archer said. “That can wait for later. We need to find those files.” However, he gave Jessie an almost imperceptible nod that she certainly would not have noticed if she hadn’t had to practice being covert and being around other covert agents.

Jessie nodded, her suspicions satiated. “Let’s go.”

The pair headed off, and soon stumbled upon a file. Jessie picked it up. “This one’s about Erika.”

“Anything of note?” Archer asked.

“Well… there’s a section about how well she’d do in the killing game, about her family, interviews, etcetera… Doesn’t look like anything that’d hint at the mastermind, though,” Jessie summarized. 

“She’s one of our suspects,” Archer said. “We can’t give her this file, even if she wants it.”

Jessie doubted that. “It couldn’t do too much harm, could it?”

Archer nodded. “It could. If Erika is the mastermind… she could destroy her own file, or remove incriminating parts.”

“Ah…” Jessie said. “Well… what if the mastermind’s group finds the mastermind’s file?”

“Then we’ll just have to suspect them more,” Archer said.

Jessie nodded. Truth be told, she really was hoping the mastermind wasn’t one of the group, even if she knew it was logically. 

The next file was found by Archer. He picked it up and inhaled sharply.

“Archer?” Jessie asked. “Whose file is that…?”

“It’s- the plans for the killing game! The motives!” the blue-haired man said. 

Jessie gasped. “Well, what are they?”

“The first motive is… Symbiont. It was used to provoke someone into killing,” Archer said.

Jessie felt her blood run cold. “That was… James…”

“It says here that someone was injected with Symbiont without their knowledge, and they would kill due to the change…”

“Misty…” And, all of a sudden, everything fell into place. “I- I know what happened,” Jessie said. She recalled the first trial and Will’s story… “Misty, and her Pokemon, were injected with Symbiont before her memories were erased. It would explain her… the rage she couldn’t control… why Bruno could use Misty’s Pokemon against the others… Misty was a traitor without even realizing it. And- and James paid the price.”

Archer was shocked. He didn’t know what to say. “It does make sense, but… you better not retreat into a shell like before.”

Jessie looked at Archer. At the blue-haired, white-uniformed Rocketeer in front of her who looked so much like her partner… “I won’t. Not now. Continue reading.”

Archer nodded. “Alright, the second motive is the files… they would provoke someone into murder.”

Jessie thought. “That’s why- why Brock murdered Agatha.”

“Thirdly… we have the Pokemon being revealed,” Archer says.

Jessie thought. “But… that happened after the third trial? The third trial was- Bruno…”

Archer kept reading. “The fourth motive is a plan to stop the mastermind…”

“Isn’t that- how Koga and Lance’s plan started?” Jessie asked. “But… why would the mastermind risk everything like that?”

“If I remember correctly, Surge was murdered by Blaine due to a trap,” Archer said. “Here, it mentions something about trapping the plan.”

“So the mastermind got more than they bargained for!” Jessie said. “What’s the next motive?”

“The fifth and final motive… was revealing the state of the world,” Archer said. “The Incursion.”

Jessie thought. “But… only five motives… that can’t be it!”

Archer nodded. “There are two… backup motives listed. The first is Bruno’s presence in the game.”

“So he was used when Sabrina knew too much!” Jessie said. “That doesn’t explain Giovanni murdering Red…”

“That was entirely unplanned,” Archer pointed out. “The second backup motive is… Glutton. Its approach could be used to threaten a desperate soul into murder.”

“This info has gotten us closer,” Jessie said. 

“Still more files to find,” Archer said. With that, the two kept going.

Jessie found their third file. She opened it. “It’s… Monomime’s file!”

“Monomime?” Archer asked.

Jessie nodded. “His coloration isn’t natural, but artificial… he volunteered himself for this?”

“He what?” Archer asked.

“Yeah, he volunteered himself because… he wanted to get closer to another Pokemon involved in the game?” Jessie read. “That’s… odd. I wonder who it was.”

Archer nodded. “Keep reading.”

Jessie looked. “Okay, it talks about his behavior, both before and after Symbiont… his strengths in battle and in running the game… his weaknesses… and his odd mannerisms!”

“Hm?” Archer asked. “What are his weaknesses?”

“...Love and recklessness,” Jessie summarized. “He is not good at dealing with unplanned situations; he needs direction. Like a lot of Pokemon in that regard…”

“Does it imply who his trainer is?” Archer asked.

“Well… Monomime is wild. Doesn’t have a Poke Ball or anything, according to this,” Jessie said. “However, he was trained by the mastermind… it says here that this is why his behaviors are somewhat similar to a Galarian Mr. Mime: he was already a bit like that but it got more pronounced after both Symbiont and his training.”

“A Galarian Mr. Mime, huh… does it mention why he glows?” Archer asked.

Jessie leafed through. “No, it doesn’t.”

“I wonder why, then…” Archer mused.

The fourth and final file found by the pair was Lorelei’s. Jessie picked it up. “Same thing as Erika… interviews, psychology, summary, history.”

Archer nodded. “We’ve found four files; that’s a quarter.”

“We should still keep searching!” Jessie said. “We can meet up with the others when we’re sure all of the files were found!”

“Alright,” Archer said, and the two headed off.

“Hey, I found something!” Blue said, grabbing a file. It was his and Erika’s first. 

“W-what’s it about?” Erika asked.

Blue flipped it open. “Aether Paradise, in Alola. It says here… Aether was the first Ultra Beast summoning, a Symbiont, but soon, other Ultra Beasts were summoned long-range on other islands. The artificial island is still there, but it’s swarming with Ultra Beasts; it’s likely that that is what is causing the Incursion still today.”

“That- doesn’t seem immediately relevant, but it’ll be helpful when we get out of here,” Erika said. 

Blue nodded. “Yep. Let’s keep searching!”

Erika found their second file. She opened it and paled. “Um… this is-”

“What?” Blue asked.

“A progress report!” Erika said. “It’s a printed email, addressed to an address that I don’t recognize.”

“What does it say?” Blue asked.

“Well, the email address is from a .unv website, so its Unovan… the email itself is a progress report. It says that the first two trials went as planned, but the mastermind had to use Bruno instead of the original third trial plans because a participant knew too much…” Erika read.

“That would be Sabrina…” Blue said. “Is that it?”

“Well, no…” Erika said. “It says that that was the most recent thing to occur, but it asks if the recipient’s killing game is going as planned, as the mastermind has received no communication from them.”

Blue inhaled sharply. “There’s- another killing game? In Unova?”

“That’s all that was mentioned about it,” Erika said.

“Well,” Blue thought, “this will probably help us, but I’m not sure how exactly yet. Let’s keep searching.”

The third and fourth files were close together, so Erika and Blue each picked one up. 

“Uh…” Erika said, “this one’s about Giovanni. It’s the same as the other files: about how he would fare in the killing game and various facets of his past; although, the past section seems short.” She flipped to the last page and stopped. “And, um… there’s a warning.”

“A warning?” Blue asked.

Erika nodded. “It says… Giovanni is a threat. He must be in the killing game at all costs, as he is the most knowledgeable about the Incursion of anyone nearby, and he would certainly interfere if left alone.”

“That’s… odd,” Blue said. “Why would Giovanni, of all people, be the most knowledgeable?”

“I don’t know…” Erika said. “What’s your file about?”

Blue looked. “It’s… about Glutton. Most information is vague, but it seems that one devoured the entirety of Ula’Ula Island in Alola like we heard. It has gobbled mountains and swallowed whole buildings, and is eating constantly. However, no waste has been found; it is theorized to convert all it eats into pure energy. Its type is unknown, and its cry sounds like a screaming human. It is approximately eighteen feet tall, and its battle capabilities are largely unknown due to nobody coming back from battling one.”

“That’s-” Erika began.

“Terrifying,” Blue said. “But not immediately relevant until Glutton gets here.”

Erika still looked spooked. “Y-yeah…”

The pair headed off to search for more files.

Eventually, everyone met up back at the Pokemon Center. When Blue and Erika arrived, Lance, Lorelei, and Will were already there. The remaining four arrived quickly, and everyone gathered around. 

“The trial is first thing tomorrow,” Lance said, “so we need to make sure we got all the files before we rest.”

Lorelei stood up. “Our group found files about Bruno, Blue, Sabrina, and Symbiont.”

“We found Saffron City, Jessie, and Lance,” Koga chimed in.

“We found Erika, Lorelei, Monomime, and a file about motives,” Jessie said. 

“And we found a progress report, Giovanni, Glutton, and Aether Paradise!” Blue finished.

“That’s fifteen files,” Will said. “That means… that’s everything.”

“So… is everyone ready for the trial?” Blue asked. “More than one person knows the contents of every file?” Everyone nodded.

“Alright,” Lance said. “Tomorrow, we stop the mastermind.”

“Yeah!” Jessie said, raising her fist in the air. Everyone else followed, sans Archer, and they headed off to bed.

Elsewhere, however… something wasn’t going as planned.

“Vileplume, do you have any more Sleep Powder in you?” Ariana asked. She was in the bushes with her Vileplume; Arbok was keeping a lookout. 

Vileplume tried, but came up short, flopping over in exhaustion.

“We managed to slow it a bit,” Ariana said, “but it’s not enough… Weezing is drained dry, as is Vileplume… Magmortar is mostly an up-close attacker, and its fire would only serve as a hindrance…” she counted out. “Alright. Arbok wouldn’t be good, although Earthquake might be a bad last resort… so that leaves you, Muk!” She recalled her Vileplume and released the blob of goo. “Muk, Rock Tomb the thing from behind!”

Muk glooped, doubtful.

“It’ll be okay, Muk!” Ariana reassured.

Muk nodded, and flowed towards the beast. It bubbled, forming purple boulders out of its body and launching them at Glutton, pinning it down. Glutton stopped for a second to remove the rocks, and turned around with a Screech. 

“Shoot! Muk, return!” Ariana said, recalling her Muk.

“Need some help?” a voice echoed.

“Huh?” Ariana asked. “Who’s there?”

On her Honchkrow, Karen alighted next to Ariana. “I’m taking over for you. You’re overextending yourself and your Pokemon.”

Ariana dissented. “I’m fine. I’ll keep going.”

“No, you won’t,” Karen said. “That’s final. Head back to base. Get some rest. Come back in the morning.”

“But-”

“Go.” Karen was rather forceful. “Now’s the best opportunity for me and my Dark-types, anyway.”

Ariana nodded. “Fine. Call me if anything unusual happens.”

“You don’t have to constantly be on top of everything,” Karen says. “Nobody will blame you for not being there to rest.”

Ariana said nothing, merely getting astride her own Honchkrow and flying away.

Karen turned to the problem at hand, looking through her Poke Balls. She was great at dirty tricks and disabling the opponent. Spiritomb… Gengar… Absol… Mega Houndoom… Honchkrow… Umbreon. If she absolutely needed it, Vileplume and Weavile were in reserve, but she had left them at base. “Hm… how about this! Absol, your turn!”

Monomime hummed, looking at the security cameras. Everyone was in bed, except for- perfect. Giovanni was probably not dead yet, he’d admit, but he was going to be soon. Xatu was still contained… only one person remained.

Monomime heard a clunk. Speak of Giratina, that was them now. “Boss!” Monomime greeted. “How’d I- what’s the matter?”

The mastermind bore a furious expression. “Why in the world would you think a final trial was a good idea?”

Monomime instantly grew defensive. “The game- we can’t let it fizzle out!”

“Yes, we can,” the mastermind responded. “You’re risking my- our lives in this. Cancel the trial.”

“I-” Monomime was panicking. He’d screwed up again. “But Glutton-”

“We can handle ourselves. Let the others get killed in the attack. Cancel the trial, Monomime, or you will never see Monorita again.”

“Alright!” Monomime said. “I’ll do that.”

“Good. If I’m found out… that’s the end of the game. Don’t think I’ve noticed how you’ve been screwing up. Only reason you’re still here is because the Unovans have broken off contact. You better get your act together, or you won’t need to be here anymore.”

Monomime gulped, watching the mastermind retreat back through the secret passage. “My sweet Rita… oh, how I hope you’re okay… I’m coming soon, sweetie… please,” he pleaded, turning to the computer, “just send us something, something at all! Something to show that the glorious killing game is going as intended!”

When everyone awoke the next morning, they ate, quiet in preparation for the next trial. When it came time, and no trial was called, Lance stood up. “Monomime!” he called.

“Yeah?” the Fairy Pokemon said, appearing. “What do you need?”

“What about the trial?” Janine asked.

“Oh, the trial?” Monomime said. “It’s been canceled!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're coming up on the end, so here's a little something!  
> As implied in the chapter, there's going to be a sequel (or, rather, simulquel), set in Unova. I'm having so much fun writing this one that there's going to be a second one!  
> Hope you're excited!


	24. Chapter 6: Trial 1

When Monomime announced the cancellation, the room erupted.

“What? You can’t do that!” Blue yelled.

“Why?” Janine asked.

“You- we investigated for nothing?” Lorelei balked.

“That’s not fair!” Will protested.

Monomime hummed. “Last I checked, there was no murder. I decided to cancel the trial because-”

“Because of the mastermind?” Jessie challenged. 

Monomime looked like he was choking. “I- what? How did you-?”

“Given what I read in your file…” Jessie said, “You’d obey them.”

“That’s-” Monomime began.

“It was a wild guess,” Jessie admitted, “but hey! It worked!”

“Oh, you…” Monomime seethed.

“So, the mastermind doesn’t want us identifying them…” Koga said. 

“There’s an obvious solution!” Blue exclaimed. “We can hold our own trial!”

“What?” Lorelei asked. “What do you mean?”

“I mean, there’s nothing stopping us from having a discussion like a trial outside the trial room, right?” Blue said. “We can have an unofficial trial!”

“No!” Monomime said. “You can’t!”

“Why not?” Lance asked. “It’s not in the rules. We’re just having a friendly discussion!”

Erika nodded. “I th-think it’s a good idea!”

“We can have it right here!” Will exclaimed. 

“Right,” Janine said. 

Monomime thought. “Well then, why don’t I stay and watch? I’ve got nothing better to do!”

“Right. Let’s get this set up!” Blue exclaimed.

A few minutes later, there were ten small end-tables in a circle to act as the podiums. Everyone picked a spot so that they were in the same order as the regular trials. There was an empty spot left, between Koga and Lorelei.

“Huh? You fools got an extra spot!” Monomime exclaimed.

“Nope!” Jessie exclaimed. “You get a spot here, too!”

“I- what?” Monomime said.

“You heard her,” Lance said. “You wanted to watch, right?”

“Fine, fine…” Monomime said, taking his spot. With that, things were ready for the trial to begin.

“So, we all know how this works!” Blue exclaimed. “We’re going to find the mastermind!”

“B-but… where do we begin?” Erika asked.

“Well, first…” Archer thought, “we have five potential suspects: Koga, Lance, Erika, Jessie, and Lorelei.”

“But how do we narrow it down?” Lorelei asked.

-NONSTOP DEBATE: START-

“What if we examine each event in order?” Will said. 

“You mean… each trial in order?” Blue asked.

Jessie nodded. “Archer and I found a file talking about motives, so we can help with the trials!”

“You’re forgetting something!”

-COUNTER: JANINE-

-BREAK-

“Hm?” Lorelei asked.

“We need to examine the events before the game, too!” Janine exclaimed.

“The file we found on Saffron City should help!” Lance said. “It said… the city was abandoned due to the Incursion, being difficult to defend. However, it can be blocked with a barrier easily, leading to its choice as the setting of the game!”

“Right…” Jessie said.

“How does that help?” Blue asked. 

“It doesn’t, not immediately,” Lance said. “It could be helpful later, though.”

“Anyway, as to the events before the game…” Koga said. “Will, Janine, Archer, would you mind walking us through them again?”

“Sure!” Will responded. 

-NONSTOP DEBATE: START-

“So, firstly, the Incursion occurred in Alola. The mastermind presumably got attacked by Symbiont without anyone knowing, except potentially Bruno… Either Bruno got attacked too, or the mastermind subjected him to it,” Will began.

“The mastermind received technology from the Aether Foundation,” Archer said. “So we know that Lusamine, or someone on her payroll, knew about this game. The mastermind got the Poke Ball suppression field at least, and if I had to guess, the strange Poke Ball Bruno’s Symbiont was in and the psychic suppression field.”

“And the barrier! All three are psychically powered machines, but they are originating from machines,” Lance contributed.

“Then, Monomime was recruited,” Janine said. “I presume he is the one behind the barrier here. Then, Bruno and Monomime secretly set up the killing game while the mastermind maintained appearances, I presume.”

“You’re f-forgetting something!”

-COUNTER: ERIKA-

-BREAK-

“What?” Janine asked. “What am I missing?”

“Blue and I found a f-file,” Erika said. “It was a progress report… sent in the form of an email. It mentioned another killing game ongoing in Unova, although that one is either not happening or there’s a communication error.”

“Another killing game?” Jessie asked. “We- that’s awful!”

Blue nodded. “We’ll need to go and stop it after we all escape. But that’s not the point.”

Monomime remained defiantly silent.

Jessie remembered something. “Oh yeah! About Monomime’s recruitment… Archer and I found a file on Monomime; it said he joined because of another Pokemon.”

“Monomime himself corroborated that to Janine and I,” Koga said. “He mentioned that he has someone waiting for him.”

“So, Monomime?” Lorelei asked. “Got anything to say?”

“If I say anything… I’ll never see Rita again…” Monomime said.

“Oh?” Lance said. “Her name’s Rita?”

“Yeah, and-” Monomime realized what was happening. He promptly shut up.

“We’ve gotten off track…” Blue said. “If there’s a game in Unova, that one also has a mastermind. They’re in on it too.”

“Right, but that doesn’t affect us,” Koga said. “Let’s keep going with the summary.

-NONSTOP DEBATE: START-

“Right. All of us but the four Rocketeers were at Indigo Plateau,” Janine said. “Me, Surge, Father, and Bruno were doing surveys and trying to rescue people; Bruno was likely secretly setting up the game during that time.”

“Bruno was acting suspicious, a bit, but it wasn’t much until Koga and Surge didn’t come back,” Will supplied.

“Pardon the interruption, but doesn’t that make Koga more suspicious?” Lorelei asked. “Since he was the first to be kidnapped?”

“Don’t jump to conclusions!”

-COUNTER: BLUE-

-BREAK-

“Hm?” Lorelei asked. “My reasoning is sound.”

“It is, sort of,” Blue said. “While it is true that Koga is still suspicious, I think chasing tangents like that will only get us off track.”

“True. My apologies, then,” Lorelei said. “Continue.”

-NONSTOP DEBATE: START-

“After Koga and Surge vanished, Blue, Brock, Lance, and Red went after them. They didn’t come back,” Will said. 

“Next, Bruno attacked us, at the Rocket base,” Archer said. “They took Giovanni, Jessie, and James.”

“In that case, I can’t be the mastermind!” Jessie said. “I was accidental, right?”

“Sounds right.”

-CONSENT: KOGA & JESSIE-

-BREAK-

“Huh? How do you know?” Janine asked.

“From what I’ve surmised of Team Rocket,” Koga explained, “it would be likely that Jessie being in contact with Bruno would have been noticed, correct?”

Archer nodded. “Correct.”

“And!” Jessie said. “I have other reasoning, but it would be out of order.”

“I think we can tentatively eliminate Jessie for now, and once we hear her other reasoning, we can decide whether that holds water,” Lance said.

“Sounds fair,” Janine said.

“Let’s continue!” Blue said.

-NONSTOP DEBATE: START-

“Right, where were we…” Janine said. “Bruno showed up at Indigo Plateau with Koga and Surge tied up, and activated Poke Ball suppression fields someone had set up.”

“It was probably someone who remained behind,” Will contributed, “but Bruno setting them up is still a small possibility.”

“Anyway,” Janine said, “he overwhelmed Lorelei, on guard duty, easily. Misty rushed in to rescue her, not realizing… she was taken as well.”

“Bruno issued an ultimatum before leaving: Agatha, Blaine, Erika, and Sabrina had to come alone,” Will said. “Janine went along.”

“I was attacked by Bruno and his new Pokemon: a Symbiont. He also used his own Pokemon, as well as Misty’s,” Janine said. “Monomime used a dropped radio, mentioning the game; when he realized, he stopped using it.”

“That’s everything the mastermind was involved in prior to the game!” Janine exclaimed.

“No, you’re overlooking something.”

-COUNTER: ARCHER-

-BREAK-

“Hm?” Janine asked.

“Jessie and I found a file on motives,” Archer said. “In it, it said that Misty was injected with Symbiont prior to the game.”

“That explains why she was so enraged, and- her behavior in the first trial!” Blue said.

“S-so… Misty was a traitor and she didn’t know it?” Erika asked.

“Yeah…” Jessie said. “That’s why I’m not the mastermind! Why would I let a traitor kill James?”

Lance nodded. “Makes sense. 

“About then’s probably when our memories were taken, too…” Lorelei supplied.

“But how?” Blue asked.

“If I had to guess, a foreign Psychic Pokemon,” Koga said. “Maybe a Unovan one?”

“I don’t know any of those…” Blue said.

Will thought. “Well, there’s Gothitelle, Reuniclus, Sigilyph-”

“Not right now,” Janine said. “So, I guess we’re moving onto the trials now, huh?”

-NONSTOP DEBATE: START-

“The first trial… Misty murdered James,” Blue said.

“The motive was Misty’s Symbiont,” Jessie said. 

“The mastermind injected Misty with the Symbiont, but did nothing beyond that as far as we know,” Lorelei said.

“The second trial… the files drove Brock to murder Agatha,” Koga said.

“The mastermind probably picked out the files to cause that!” Janine said.

“Think again!”

-COUNTER: MONOMIME-

-BREAK-

Everyone turned to look at Monomime. “What are you saying?” Lorelei asked.

“Oh, I picked those files!” Monomime said. “Not hard to comprehend.”

“So the mastermind was only indirectly involved…” Lance mused.

“They still ordered it!” Monomime said.

“That’s… unhelpful,” Koga admitted. “That didn’t get us anywhere!”

“Well, there’s still three more trials,” Archer said.

-NONSTOP DEBATE: START-

“From the progress report, we know that the original motive had to be scrapped for the third trial,” Blue supplied.

“Sabrina knew too much, so Bruno murdered her on behalf of the mastermind…” Erika said.

“The original motive was meant to be our Pokemon,” Jessie supplied. “That had to be scrapped.”

“Well then, what about the fourth trial?” Will asked. “The mastermind wasn’t involved in the fifth at all…”

“The mastermind was likely caught off-guard by our plan,” Lorelei said. “They did trap the tiles and knock out Lance, but that could have been anyone!”

“Not Jessie or Blue,” Lance pointed out. “I encountered, or saw on cameras, both of them before I was knocked out.”

“If the mastermind was caught off-guard, then… what was the planned motive?” Blue asked.

“It was…” Jessie tried to remember. “It was supposed to be a plan, but the mastermind got more than they bargained for.”

“What are you saying?” Koga asked.

“The mastermind’s goal was to trap a plan to stop the mastermind, but our plan was so extreme it caught them off guard.” Jessie said.

“Give it up.”

-COUNTER: LANCE-

-BREAK-

Lance’s blood ran cold and he paled as all the pieces fell into place in his head.

“Are you okay-” Blue began.

“I know who it is,” Lance said. “Only one person started Koga and I’s plan. Only one person could convince Misty to get Symbiont. Only one person has such a clean alibi to slip away. Only one person could betray my trust like this. I hope I’m wrong, but… 

…the mastermind…

…it’s you, isn’t it?… 

…Right,…

…Lorelei?”

Right as Lance uttered those words, a banging sound came from within one of the rooms.


	25. Chapter 6: Trial 2

Everyone turned to hear the source of the banging. Without even paying mind to whose room it was, the closest person, Jessie, rushed over and jiggled the doorknob. “Locked!”

“Whose room is it?” Janine asked. “It isn’t mine…”

Jessie looked at the nameplate. “...Lorelei, what do you have to say for yourself?”

“I do not know what you mean,” the Ice trainer responded.

“The banging is coming from your room!” Jessie said.

“And you’re the mastermind!” Lance said.

“I do not know why the banging is coming from my room. In addition, you have no conclusive proof that I am the mastermind. Stop it with these false accusations,” Lorelei responded. 

“If you don’t know why the banging is coming from your room, you certainly would have no problem opening it, right?” Archer asked.

“I do not have a problem with that,” Lorelei said, taking out her room key. She walked to her room and unlocked the door. She stood back as Jessie opened the door.

On the other side was a bloodstained Xatu dragging the pale, pallid, bloody corpse of Giovanni.

About half of the remaining people gasped. Will and Archer rushed over; Will to hug Xatu and Archer to join Jessie in looking at Giovanni’s corpse.

“Nobody go anywhere!” Blue hollered. 

“Xatu!” Will said. He had gotten blood on his clothes; he didn’t care. “What happened to you?”

Xatu cawed. She extended a wing, pointing at Giovanni.

“Giovanni…? What did he do?” Will looked at the man’s corpse.

Xatu cawed again. Her stiff wings didn’t lend well to expressing herself.

Jessie and Archer were examining the corpse. 

“Blood loss,” Archer prescribed. “He lost a lot of blood… look at all those wounds.”

Jessie looked at him. She bent down, looking at Giovanni’s hands. “It looks like… he was writing something.” She carefully moved his fingers away to find a bloodied slip of paper with a note written on it. 

“What’s it say?” Will asked.

Jessie, with Archer peeking over her shoulder, began reading the note. She immediately gasped.

_To Archer, Ariana, Petrel, Jessie, and Silver,_

_If you are reading this note, it means that I have met my end. I am writing this from within the medical bay, where I have freed Will’s Xatu. I am feeling faint from the blood loss; I barely even made it here. Chances are, I’m about to die. Monomime thinks me already dead._

_Jessie, you have performed admirably in this killing game; I hereby promote you to an Executive of Team Rainbow Rocket for your actions within this game._

_Petrel, thank you for all that you have done for us. I only wish I could have truly seen you one last time before death._

_Archer, you are the most deserving to continue on the mission of Team Rainbow Rocket; you are hereby promoted to the Boss of the organization._

_Ariana, all of your actions have not been in vain. You are promoted to the right hand of Team Rainbow Rocket, filling in Archer’s old position. You are certainly capable._

_To the rest of Team Rainbow Rocket, I am sorry for falling prey to this._

_And, to Silver, I am sorry for not being there for you. I know I was not the best father. If you are still alive, just know that there will always be a place for you among Team Rainbow Rocket, whether just staying in their base when you need to or joining the ranks._

_And, to the others in this killing game,_

_In the infirmary, I could not stop the bleeding. However… I found evidence. The mastermind is_

At this point, the note cut off. Jessie stopped reading. 

“Xatu… did you drag Giovanni all the way here?” Will asked.

Xatu nodded. 

Jessie leaned on Archer for support. “I- he’s really gone?” she asked.

Archer nodded. “Yeah… this is-”

“-a lot to take in…” Jessie finished. “I know what you mean…”

Will, curious, looked past the corpse into Lorelei’s room. “Lorelei,” he began. “Why is there a passage in the wall of your room?”

“What do you mean-” she said, before peeking in. “How’d that get there?”

“You lie like a Spoink,” Will said. “Not well.”

Blue walked up. “Well, what are we waiting for? Let’s go explore!”

Erika nodded. “R-right.”

“Actually…” Janine said. “I think I’ll stay here and watch Lorelei. I can actually defend myself, after all.”

“I will stay as well,” Koga said.

Will looked to Xatu before nodding. “We’ll stay.”

Blue nodded. “Sounds good. Erika, Lance, Jessie, Archer, let’s go.”

“Wait!” Monomime yelled. “What about me?”

“What about you?” Lance asked.

“I’m coming!” the Pokemon exclaimed. “You can’t stop me!”

“Fine…” Blue said. With that, the group of six plunged into the secret passage.

-NONSTOP DEBATE: START-

The passage was lit with small lamps. Shortly in, there was a door leading to the side. Blue tried it, but it was locked.

“Locked…” Erika said.

“That’s the direction of Bruno’s room,” Lance said. “I bet that’s where it was.”

“No, that’s wrong!”

-COUNTER: BLUE-

-BREAK-

“That can’t be it… why would Bruno be meeting with Monomime in the streets after killing Sabrina?” Blue asked.

“I can answer that!” Monomime said. “Yes, that goes to Bruno’s room! However, he didn’t know it was there; my boss decided to not allow Bruno access to the inner workings, just in case!”

“Why are you being so helpful?” Jessie asked.

“I- okay, I’ll level with you. I’m siding with the winners,” Monomime said.

“What?” Archer asked.

“I’m subtly siding with the winners,” Monomime clarified. “As much as I want to ‘win’ the game, I want to reunite with my sweetheart more. But, if the boss finds out I’m siding with you… they’ll kill me.”

“So… you’re giving us subtle, unhelpful info?” Jessie said.

“It’s not unhelpful!” Monomime protested. “Just… please, please don’t kill me? I just want to see her before I die!”

“Hm,” Blue said, not looking very keen on the idea.

“We’ll… think about it?” Erika said.

“We’re wasting time,” Archer said. “Let’s get going.”

“Right,” Blue said.

-NONSTOP DEBATE: START-

The group reached the end of the tunnel. They opened a trapdoor and found themselves in the ceiling of…

“...the security room?” Lance asked.

“Lorelei could come here whenever she wanted,” Blue said. 

Erika looked at the cameras, seeing the rest of the survivors on them. “S-so…”

“There’s a blood trail,” Lance pointed out. “If we need to figure out what evidence Giovanni found in the infirmary, we should follow it!”

“But… wouldn’t we need to take a warp tile?” Erika asked.

“That’s wrong!”

-COUNTER: JESSIE-

-BREAK-

“That is what happened, right?” Erika said.

“Well, no,” Jessie said. “Here, the infirmary and the security room were on the same floor!”

“What are we waiting for, then?” Blue asked. “Let’s go!”

The group left the security room and crossed the hall to the infirmary. When they got inside, they immediately took note of how disarrayed the room was. There were bloodstains everywhere and bandages scattered around the room.

“Oh…” Jessie said, trailing off.

Lance thought. “If this is where Giovanni’s evidence was, what could it be?”

The group got to searching (except Monomime).

After a bit, Blue looked up. “I found it. No denying it now; it’s her.”

“So, are you just going to keep me here?” Lorelei asked. 

“Yeah. I don’t exactly know all the evidence, but the secret passage in your room is pretty damning,” Janine said, holding a shuriken in her hand.

“I said it once, and I’ll say it again: I have no idea where that passage leads or why it’s there. I’m not the mastermind,” Lorelei rebutted.

“You’re not very convincing, you know that,” Will said. “Now that the suspicion’s on you, it’s all falling apart.”

“It isn’t just suspicion,” Koga said. “Jessie said that the mastermind planned to instigate a plan to stop themself, but trap it: you instigated our plan.”

“I didn’t know. It’s all just a coincidence.” 

-CONVICTION CONUNDRUM: START-

“Coincidence? This is a lot of coincidences! Both the passage and the plan!” Janine said.

“The passage wasn’t a coincidence,” Lorelei said. “I think it was put there to frame me.”

“That would be acceptable, but you started Lance and I’s plan!” Koga said.

“Maybe the mastermind capitalized off your plan instead of making their own!” Lorelei protested.

“Plus, Misty idolized you, and she ended up being a traitor!” Will said.

“She didn’t know she was a traitor,” Lorelei responded. “I’m tired of these accusations. You don’t have a smoking Magmortar that definitively proves me guilty!”

“What if I told you… there is one?”

Everyone looked to the secret passage. Archer was the one who had spoken, and the group of six had exited both the passage and Lorelei’s room.

“Wh-what?” Lorelei asked. “What could you have found?”

“The passage led to the security room,” Lance said. “There… well, there was a piece of evidence. No denying it now.”

“Well, what is the evidence?” Lorelei cried.

“The infirmary computers… weren’t password-protected,” Blue said. “They had no security at all!”

“What does that have to do with me?” Lorelei asked.

“In our investigation, isn’t that what you were investigating? You said you didn’t find much… you claimed to find patient files, correct? There weren’t any at all!” Jessie said.

“I- they must have been deleted! To throw us off!” Lorelei rebutted. “Please, you can’t possibly think it’s me!”

“Yes, we c-can!” Erika said. “All the evidence is stacking up against you, and you are unaccounted for at any point where the mastermind was!”

“I- you can’t- HELP ME, MONOMIME, OR YOU’LL NEVER SEE HER AGAIN!” Lorelei broke out yelling.

Monomime looked terrified. “I- I- it is her, guys. Give it up.”

“WHAT?” Lorelei screeched.

-FULL COUNTER-

-BREAK-

“So… it is?” Jessie asked.

“I had hoped we were wrong, but…” Lance trailed off.

-NONSTOP DEBATE: START-

“YOU FUCKING TRAITOR! I WILL MAKE SURE YOU DON’T LEAVE ALIVE!” Lorelei screeched, pulling out a knife and rushing Monomime.

Monomime, looking terror-stricken, hunkered in place, waiting for the knife that would end his life.

But… it never came. Perplexed, Monomime looked up to see that- someone had interposed themself!

“Archer!” Jessie gasped.

“Step away from him.”

-COUNTER: ARCHER-

-BREAK-

Lorelei found her knife not embedded in Monomime’s heart, but Archer’s leg. 

“It’s… okay,” Archer winced. “I’ll be… fine.” 

Janine and Koga, who hadn’t been close enough to react in time originally, quickly dashed over and grabbed Lorelei.

“Keep the knife in,” Blue advised. “You won’t bleed as much.”

“R-right…” Archer said.

“You…” Lorelei was seething. “I analyzed you… all of you! What if I had been aiming higher? You didn’t know! None of you would have done that! Only, maybe, Janine or Koga! Archer, you- you’re incredibly risk-averse, so… wait a moment. YOU- YOU TRICKED ME!”

Jessie looked to Archer. 

He chuckled. “Heh. Surprised none of you figured it out by now,” he said, his voice changing from his normal smooth, somewhat monotone voice to something more gravely.

“It can’t be!” Lance said.

Janine, Will, and Jessie all smirked.

“Archer” reached up and pulled off his wig. His face still looked a lot like Archer’s (he couldn’t take makeup and such off that quickly), but his hair was purple, styled in a swoop on the middle of his head. “You really should have figured it out…” he said.

“But- wait, who are you?” Blue asked.

“Oh, right. Only some of you know me. I’m Petrel, Team Rocket’s master of disguise!” Petrel said, sitting down with Jessie’s assistance. “Now, if you’ll pardon me, I’ve been stabbed in the leg.”

“YOU- YOU TRICKED ME!” Lorelei yelled. 

Jessie looked at Archer’s legs and rushed back into Lorelei’s room, heading down the secret passage.

Monomime looked up at his savior. “Uh… thank you! I don’t know if I can ever repay you-”

“I’m not saying you should live,” Petrel said. “To tell the whole truth, I actually hate you. But… dying by her hands is not the way to go.”

Monomime nodded. “A-Alright.” 

Lorelei struggled against her binds. “THIS WASN’T HOW IT WAS SUPPOSED TO GO! I HAD EVERYTHING PLANNED OUT PERFECTLY!”

“Wait a moment… if Symbiont makes one of one’s worst traits worse, what’s this?” Will asked.

“Um…” Monomime said. “She wasn’t always like this… only when something unexpected happened.”

“So it’s her control-freak tendencies and fear of losing control…” Lance realized. “I see…”

“LET ME GO!” Lorelei cried. “IT WASN’T SUPPOSED TO GO THIS WAY! I WAS SUPPOSED TO GET RID OF YOU ALL!”

“She… um, wanted to stop you all from stopping the Incursion…” Monomime said.

“What do we do with her?” Koga asked. “I don’t know if she’s in her right mind…”

“We could just… leave her here,” Janine said. “To be devoured by- oh shit!”

“What?” Blue asked.

“Glutton!” 

“We can’t stop it!” Ariana cried.

“Stay calm,” Karen said. “The thing isn’t fast.”

“We are short on time, though…” Archer said. “It’s basically unstoppable now that our Pokemon are all exhausted.”

“We managed to buy them a day, I think?” Karen estimated. 

Ariana looked ahead. “Yeah, but… will they be okay?”

“No option but to wait and see,” Archer responded.

“Can’t we just… leave?” Will asked. “Monomime’s on our side now!”

Monomime nodded. “I do power the machines… I’ll stop, now!” He visibly relaxed, although not fully. 

“Uh…” Will said. “It didn’t… work. The psychic suppression field is still here…”

“It… what?” Erika asked.

“I don’t know what’s going on!” Monomime said. “That should have shut the things off!”

Lorelei smirked, calming down. “I activated the override after the three newcomers showed up… it’s on a generator, now.”

“We have to go shut it off!” Blue said. “Monomime… can you teleport?”

“Not down there!” Monomime said. “The psychic suppression field affects me, too, I just ward it off! It works, but that close to the machine is impossible for even me! It’s on the lowermost floor, at the bottom of the elevator shaft!”

“I dunno if I can walk…” Petrel says. At that moment, Jessie returned with a roll of gauze. She got to work on Petrel’s leg.

“I’ll stay here,” Janine said. “Monomime and I can make sure Lorelei doesn’t go anywhere.”

Monomime nodded.

Jessie looked up. “Yeah, I’ll be here too.”

“Wait!” Monomime remembered. “Stop by the storage room! Grab your Pokemon! There will be some blue Poke Balls with a grid on them. Grab the empty ones! Do not touch the full one.”

“Okay,” Will nodded. “Can do.”

-NONSTOP DEBATE: START-

“Alright. Let’s go,” Blue said. With that, he, Erika, Koga, Lance, Will, and Xatu headed off to turn off the barriers. They entered Lorelei’s room and descended through the secret passage.

When they got to the elevator outside the security room, they stopped.

“Don’t tell me… we’re going to have to get somebody to ride up, aren’t we?” Blue groaned.

“No, I don’t think so.”

-COUNTER: KOGA-

-BREAK-

“The elevator should be on the ground floor,” Koga said. “We just need to do what Surge did then…” the ninja knelt down and did just that, causing the elevator doors to slide open. 

“R-Right…” Erika said. “Let’s go.”

Koga was the first one on the ladder, followed by Lance, Blue, Will, and Erika. Xatu elected to just float down alongside her trainer. The group climbed past the second basement, holding the trial room, and the third basement, holding the library and the first eight executions. When Koga reached the fourth basement, he stopped. “Wait a moment!” he yelled up. He reached over and opened up the doors and climbed out into the fourth basement. Everyone else followed.

“Why are we here?” Will asked. “Aren’t we supposed to go to the bottom?”

“Storage,” Koga responded. “It’s on this floor.”

The group headed into the storage room; immediately, Koga noticed some differences. “There are signs here that weren’t here before…” he noted. “On the shelves of Pokemon. They have our names.”

Blue looked. “Huh. You’re right.”

“Why are all of Lorelei and Misty’s Pokemon missing?” Will asked. “The signs are in alphabetical order…”

“Those must have been the ones we grabbed,” Koga said. “Jessie and I.”

“But those are… the Pokemon who’ll obey the mastermind, right?” Lance asked.

“No time to dwell on that,” Blue said, grabbing his six Pokemon. “Finally!”

Erika, Lance, and Koga all grabbed their six Pokemon each as well, and Will grabbed Jessie’s two.

The group looked at the nine remaining sets of Pokemon. Six each, except James and Bruno. James had two and Bruno had seven.

“What do we do?” Erika asked. “We can’t just… leave them here…”

“We can come back for them later,” Blue said. “We’re running on a limited schedule.”

Lance nodded. “We will come back for them.”

“Alright…” Erika said.

Will looked a little closer. “Hold on, why is there a seventh Poke Ball with Bruno’s?”

“That’s… not a normal Poke Ball…” Koga said. The group looked at it: it was full. The ball had a dark blue design with a pale blue grid on it. Four yellow arcs lead away from the button to the backside of the ball. The button was the same pale blue as the lines.

-NONSTOP DEBATE: START-

“That must be the special ball Monomime mentioned!” Blue said. “That’s the full one, though…”

Koga went to look elsewhere in the room. “Mundane supplies like before… nothing we couldn’t find at the Poke Mart aside from… empty Poke Balls.” He reached down and grabbed a few. They were all regular balls, Great Balls, or the strange new type. “Only five of the new type,” Koga said.

“Well, what are we all waiting for?” Blue asked. “Let’s all take one!”

“What do you think they do?” Lance asked. 

“M-maybe… they can catch Ultra Beasts?” Erika hazarded.

“Sounds correct,”

-CONSENT: WILL & ERIKA-

-BREAK-

Will nodded. “Bruno had a Symbiont from a strange Poke Ball according to Janine… that makes sense. Especially with how they look resembling the wormholes the Beasts themselves come from.”

“If that’s the case…” Lance thought. “This is huge! That means that Ultra Beasts are Pokemon, to some extent!”

“Not ones recognized by regular Poke Balls,” Will said. “Nobody has yet tried a Master Ball, but they might even be able to resist those.

“Wait a second…” Koga realized. “If Bruno’s Symbiont is kept in one of them, then…” 

The group turned to look at the odd ball on Bruno’s shelf. “That must be…” Blue trailed off.

“His Symbiont!” Lance said.

Janine, Jessie, Petrel, and Monomime were keeping a close eye on Lorelei, who had gone mutinously silent and was bound in rope Jessie had fetched. Monomime had just finished explaining what a Beast Ball was to the others.

“So… you think it could catch Glutton?” Janine asked. “If it caught Symbiont?”

Monomime nodded. “You’ll need to weaken it like a regular Pokemon, though.”

“Can that thing be weakened?” Petrel asked. The knife was no longer in his leg now that the wound had been wrapped up; it lay on the nearby table alongside the twelve Pokemon.

“Can’t hurt to try!” Jessie said.

“Hey… Monomime,” Janine said. “After this is all over… what do you plan to do?”

“Me?” Monomime was shocked by the sudden question. “I… was hoping to go to Unova. Somehow. To… y’know.”

Janine nodded. “I ask because… well, I don’t think you should be just left to go on your own. I don’t trust you.”

“That’s… entirely fair,” Monomime admitted.

“You know… why are you so much more… civil than Lorelei or Misty… or even Bruno?” Jessie asked. 

Monomime sighed. “I… I’ve been making a lot of mistakes. I haven’t had my hit of Symbiont since… well, since the second trial.”

“It lessens over time…” Petrel remembered. “There’s still some effects on him, but they’re not as extreme as they were.”

“Well, I-” Monomime began.

However, he was cut off by what sounded like a loud scream and the ground shaking. Everyone immediately stood up.

“What’s that?” Jessie asked.

“Glutton,” Janine responded.

“It broke through the city wall!” Ariana cried.

Everyone stood at attention. “Monomime!” Jessie commanded. “You can teleport to the storage area, right?”

The frightened Pokemon nodded.

“Go get the others!” she commanded. “That goes deep underground… it could collapse on them with all this shaking!”

“O-okay!” Monomime teleported away.

“What do we do now?” Petrel asked. 

Janine thought. “Petrel. Can you move?”

“No, I don’t think so,” he said. “Not quickly, at any rate.”

“Jessie, do you think if I gave you weapons, you could use them?” Janine asked.

“Like… ninja weapons? I could try…” she replied.

“That or Lorelei’s knife,” Janine said.

“Let me go, and I’ll get rid of Glutton for you,” Lorelei said. 

Everyone looked at Lorelei, who had spoken for the first time in several minutes.

“We don’t need your help,” Petrel said. “Fuck off.”

“I’m still tied up. I can’t,” she responded.

The shaking and shouting got louder. “Right, can’t talk,” Janine said. “Grab the knife, Jessie! Stay close to her!”

“No shurikens?” Jessie asked.

“Being inexperienced is worse with them,” she responded. “I’ll go see what I can do.”

“Be careful!” Jessie called.

Janine nodded and dashed out the door, leaving Jessie and Petrel alone with Lorelei.

Janine arrived outside and saw Glutton at the edge of the city, moving slowly towards the center. Overhead, she witnessed three figures observing, one on a Golbat and two on a Honchkrow. A Gengar was launching Shadow Balls, but no other Pokemon could get close enough to do anything while also being able to get out of the way. One of the figures spied her and dove down low, flying through the gap in the city’s wall.

“Janine!” Ariana said. “Are you alright? What’s the situation?”

“We’re getting people out of the underground right now so it doesn’t collapse. The Poke Ball suppression field is still up, so be careful. Jessie and Petrel are with the mastermind, Lorelei, making sure she doesn’t escape.”

“The mastermind was…” Ariana trailed off. “Her?”

Janine nodded.

“There’s not much you could do out here,” Ariana said. “I recommend rejoining Jessie and Petrel.”

“Wait a moment…” Janine said. “It’s headed straight for Silph Co… the Pokemon Center is between the two! That’s where Jessie and Petrel are!”

“Then you need to get them out of there!” Ariana commanded.

Janine nodded. “Got it.” 

Meanwhile…

Lorelei was furious. Everything had been going perfectly… until that meddling trio and Sabrina came along! Now she was tied up on the floor when they were the ones in the wrong! Symbiont- no, all of the Beasts, deserved to roam free! They would capture them… lock them up… she had to do something! Then… an idea came to her.

Jessie took Lorelei’s knife off the table and noticed Lorelei struggling. She walked over just to make sure she wasn’t escaping.

“Finally decided to try and escape?” she asked. “You can’t.”

Lorelei smirked. “Since when? You were never the ones in control.”

Petrel stood up, wincing. “Jessie! Look out-”

“Wha-” but Jessie couldn’t react. Lorelei swung both her legs into Jessie’s ankles, sending her falling to the floor and the knife flying through the air.

-NONSTOP DEBATE: START-

Petrel and Lorelei both watched the knife land on the floor between them. Petrel tried rushing over to it to pick it up but doubled over in pain. Lorelei rolled across the floor and rolled onto the knife, cutting her rope. It scraped her side, and she winced, but the ropes fell away from around her. She got up quickly.

Jessie stood up. “Oh no-”

“You were never the ones in control,” Lorelei repeated. “It’s honestly kind of funny that you would think that. Everything was going just fine… until you came along.”

She turned to Petrel, who put his hands up and began backing up slowly. “Hey! Get away from me!”

“You’ll die for having the insolence to go against my perfect plan. It didn’t even involve you. You could have stayed out of it.” With each word, Lorelei’s words turned more to venom, and she stepped closer to Petrel, who found himself backed into a wall.

Jessie rushed up to Lorelei, trying to bat her aside, but Lorelei sidestepped her handily. 

Lorelei hummed. “You could have lived. But now…?” Her expression turned manic, and her eyes began glowing yellow. 

“No! Stay away from me!” Petrel yelled.

“YOU’LL DIE.”

-COUNTER: LORELEI-

-BREAK-

Jessie cried out as she watched Lorelei plunge the knife deep into Petrel’s chest, his face wincing in terror. The life rapidly faded from his eyes, and he crumpled to the floor.

“No…” Jessie cried. “You- didn’t…”

“Now… your turn,” Lorelei said. She began walking towards the defenseless Jessie. She seemed to be frozen in place but began backing up when Lorelei got close.

“STAY AWAY FROM ME!” Jessie yelled. Right then… a whole group of people materialized. Monomime looked exhausted as the other six looked around, taking stock of their situation.

They took in Lorelei chasing Jessie with a bloody knife. They took in Petrel’s corpse crumpled against the wall.

“What the-” Blue began. 

Koga tackled Lorelei to the floor. Lance took her knife. 

“What happened here?” Monomime asked.

Janine dashed in the door and saw all of the chaos. “Wha-”

Jessie trembled. “Lorelei tricked me… kicked me… got the knife, cut herself free, and stabbed Petrel… a-and she was coming for me too!”

“Petrel’s… really dead?” Will asked.

Janine was trembling.

“Janine?” Blue asked.

She started crying. “It’s all my fault!” Janine wailed. “If I hadn’t left- Petrel might still be here!”

“C-can someone explain what happened to you?” Jessie asked, still shaken.

Blue nodded. “We went down there, got our Pokemon from storage, and grabbed some of those Poke Balls that can capture Ultra Beasts-”

“Beast Balls,” Monomime interrupted.

“Beast Balls, yes,” Blue continued. “Then the ground started shaking and a tile fell out of the ceiling… Monomime came and got us before the whole place caved in.”

“Oh, right,” Will said. He held out two Poke Balls. “Jessie… I believe these are yours.” 

She looked at them. “Arbok! Wobbuffet! I can’t believe it!”

“Right…” Koga said, holding Lorelei down. “What do we do now?”

“Let me go!” Lorelei ordered, but Koga didn’t listen.

“Glutton’s coming!” Janine said. “It’s headed right for us!”

“Then we need to get out of here!” Lance said. 

“Here, I’ll help you move her,” Will said, kneeling down to help Koga. The pair forced Lorelei to her feet. “Move.”

“Why don’t you just kill her?” Monomime asked.

“She’s not in her right mind,” Koga responded. “Something about it seems… unfair. Now go!” 

Everyone hurried outside. About two blocks away, they saw the hulking form of Glutton, voraciously shoveling buildings, pavement, power lines, and everything else into its mouth with its mandibles.

“That’s what that looks like?” Blue gawked.

Will nodded. “That’s Glutton.”

“And we’re supposed to catch it… how?” Lance asked. “Isn’t the suppression field still up?”

“That only applies to full Poke Balls,” Monomime supplied. “Empty ones are unaffected.”

Glutton turned to Karen’s Gengar, still firing Shadow Balls, and swatted at it, attempting a Knock Off. When Gengar faded into the ground, Glutton did not stop; it instead kept going, putting the entire force of its weight behind the slam, which hit the ground in a Stomping Tantrum. Gengar popped out of the ground, dazed, and Karen’s Poke Ball lanced out. However, it deflected off of the barrier. Glutton advanced on Gengar, only for it to dazedly turn intangible and hide in the ground. Its annoying foe gone, Glutton turned to continue advancing.

“That’s- Glutton doesn’t normally battle like that!” Will said. “This must be important to it.”

“Right. What do we need to do?” Jessie asked. “How do we even weaken that thing?”

“Looks like the others are out of Pokemon…” Janine mused. “They probably weakened it a bit, but we need to figure out how to make it stay in a Beast Ball.”

“We only have two P-Pokemon available to us,” Erika said. “Xatu and Monomime will have to do the battling.”

“What non-Psychic ranged moves can the two of them use?” Lance asked.

Will thought. “Air Slash… Confuse Ray… Night Shade… Me First… Ominous Wind… Shadow Ball.” Xatu nodded.

“That’s… a lot of moves,” Jessie commented.

“I am an Elite Four member, you know,” Will replied.

Monomime sighed. “So, uh… I don’t have as many ranged moves as birdbrain here… Copycat, Encore, Mimic.”

“That’s all?” Koga asked.

“My moves are mostly defensive!” Monomime defended.

“No, I think you’re forgetting one,” Lorelei chimed up. “Why lie, Monomime?”

Everyone turned to look at the Pokemon. “Fine, fine, I have Dazzling Gleam! I can’t use it right now, though… I’m using it for something else!”

Everyone looked up. Glutton was now only one block away from them. It seemed to see them and speed up. 

“Wh-why is it coming for-” Erika began.

“SCATTER!” Blue yelled, and the group dashed in different directions.

“What’s going on?” Karen asked.

“I think I just saw them- I wish we could help!” Ariana said.

“No use,” Archer said. “These are our last Pokemon, you know.”

“I know, but- Honchkrow could-” 

“No,” Archer said. “If everything goes poorly, we’re going to swoop in there and grab whoever’s left to make a quick escape.”

“I’m just glad Gengar was able to leave that field,” Karen said.

“Will you let me go now?” Lorelei asked.

“No,” Koga said. He had dragged Lorelei into an alley. He had lost track of Will, but Janine and Erika had followed him there.

“Where- where’d the others go?” Erika asked

“No idea,” Janine said. “I think I glimpsed Monomime and Xatu staying together.”

“Wh-what’s the plan?” Erika asked.

“Keep her here,” Koga said. “Help me, Janine.”

“Yes, Father,” Janine nodded.

“You do realize you’re risking your life by holding onto me?” Lorelei asked.

“Nobody asked for your opinion,” Janine responded.

On the other side of the Pokemon Center, Jessie looked around. She had ended up with Lance and Will.

“Xatu! Where’s Xatu?” Will asked.

“She’s probably with the others,” Lance said. “Don’t panic.”

“What if she- we were just reunited!” Will cried. “I’m going after her!”

“Wait, Will!” Jessie called. 

“Wait, why?” he responded. “I need to go out there!”

“You’ll just be seen by Glutton!” Lance said.

“I-” Will was taken aback. “Fine.”

Blue looked around. He was with Monomime and Xatu, up a tree across the road.

“Where’d the others go?” Monomime asked.

Xatu cawed. 

Blue peeked out of the branches of the tree. “I see… someone in the alley near the Pokemon Center, but I can’t tell who!”

“I think I just saw someone peek out of the tree!” Will said, peeping around the corner.

“Right,” Monomime said. “And Glutton?”

“Still coming!” Blue supplied. “Why is it rushing at us?”

“Uh…” Monomime said, “Probably because- it smells Symbiont on us! Ultra Beasts have been taken from their homes… it probably recognizes Symbiont being the reason it was brought here!”

“But that means- both you and Lorelei-” Blue said. “Right. New plan. Monomime, you go tell the others. Get them in on this.”

Monomime nodded. 

“I’ll.. try to capture it. Xatu, I know I’m not your Trainer, but will you obey me for just a bit?”

Xatu nodded. She understood that it was a necessity, and Blue was on good terms with her Trainer.

“Right. Let’s go!” Blue said, and leapt out of the tree, followed by Monomime and the slowly-descending Xatu. 

-NONSTOP DEBATE: START-

Monomime hurriedly dashed across, catching Glutton’s attention. The lumbering beast turned towards it, only to be stopped by a crescent Air Slash striking its side. Glutton flinched for a moment, turning to its attacker.

“Hey, ugly!” Blue called, standing behind Xatu. “Over here!”

Glutton turned to look at its attacker.

“Confuse Ray, now!” Blue commanded. Xatu’s eyes flashed and sent out a mysterious light that floated over to Glutton. It burst in Glutton’s eyes, and it started staggering drunkenly.

“It could snap out any moment…” Blue realized. “Xatu, Air Slash!”

Xatu sent out another Air Slash, and barely dodged the confused Glutton’s Knock Off.

“Right. Beast Ball, go!” Blue yelled, throwing the Beast Ball.

-COUNTER: BLUE-

-BREAK-

Blue watched as the ball engulfed Glutton, backing away just in case. It shook once… and then, in a flash of light, the ball broke in two, and Glutton reappeared.

“...So that’s why it was coming after us?” Jessie asked.

Monomime nodded. “Where’s... Lorelei?”

“No clue,” Will said. “Koga, Janine, or Erika, either. Lost track of ‘em in the chaos.”

“Uh…” Lance said, “Glutton just broke out of Blue’s Beast Ball.”

“I’m gonna go command Xatu!” Will said, and before anyone could stop him, he ran outside. 

“I suppose Will does have a Beast Ball to use…” Lance said. “Will, wait!” 

Lance dashed out after Will, followed by Jessie and, reluctantly, Monomime.

“Good try, Blue!” Lance said, as his group emerged from the alley.

“I’ll take it from here!” Will said. 

Blue nodded. “I wasted my Beast Ball… not much I can do anyway,”

“Where are the others?” Monomime asked.

“No idea!” Jessie responded.

-NONSTOP DEBATE: START-

Glutton’s tail began glowing with deep purple light, as it wound up to hit the group. Everyone headed for the sides.

Will recognized an opportunity. “Xatu, use Me First!”

The lower part of Xatu’s body began glowing the same color, as it whirled around and smacked into Glutton, tripping it. For the first time, Glutton appeared to be in pain from an attack.

“It… actually got damaged?” Jessie asked. 

“That’s… I’ve never seen that!” Will said.

“That was a Dragon Tail!” Lance said. “Glutton must be a Dragon-type!”

“Right, while it’s tripped!” Will said. “Beast Ball, go!” 

-COUNTER: WILL-

-BREAK-

Will threw the Beast Ball at Glutton, and it went inside. The group watched with bated breath as the ball shook once… before flying apart, Glutton reappearing. The group backed up in shock.

“What’s g-going on out there?” Erika asked.

Janine peeked out. “Blue and Will tried catching Glutton! Everyone else is out there now!”

“Let me go,” Lorelei said, visibly seething. “You’re only dooming yourselves by keeping me here.”

“Dooming… ourselves? What do you mean?” Koga asked.

“Isn’t it obvious?” Lorelei responded. 

“No, not really…” Erika said, worried.

“What do you think she means?” Janine said. “Is it an empty threat, or…”

“You two could go out and check,” Koga said. “Someone out there probably knows.”

“But-” Janine protested. “Last time I left her alone… she stabbed Petrel…”

“I can handle myself, Janine,” Koga responded. “Go figure this out.”

“R-right!” Janine nodded. She and Erika left the alleyway, leaving Koga alone with Lorelei.

“Janine! Erika!” Jessie called, as the group evaded Glutton’s wrath.

“Where’s Koga?” Lance asked.

“In the alley, holding onto Lorelei,” Janine responded.

“He’s with her… alone?” Jessie asked.

“Th-that’s why we’re here, actually,” Erika said. “You see-”

“Look out!” Blue said, and Janine shoved Erika out of the way of a Knock Off.

-NONSTOP DEBATE: START-

“Wait a sec!” Lance called. “If that thing’s Dragon-type, then- Monomime, aren’t you a Fairy-type?”

“Yeah, but-” Monomime cut himself off. “Protect!” He threw up a Protect barrier just in time, shielding himself from a Knock Off. Glutton seemed incredibly focused on him. “Oh, no. Substitute!” A plush doll appeared, distracting Glutton, and Monomime beat a hasty retreat.

“Where’s he going?” Janine asked. “Why-”

“Xatu, Ominous Wind!” Will commanded. Xatu raised her wings and emitted a purple wind, letting its power flow into her. However, Glutton seemed unaffected and continued going after the nearest person- in this case, Erika.

Erika looked up to see the giant mouth of the thing closing in on her. She was petrified with fear. Many thoughts raced through her head, and she prepared for her demise.

“Beast Ball!”

-COUNTER: LANCE-

-BREAK-

Erika looked up as Lance’s Beast Ball flew over her head, engulfing Glutton. She made a break for it as the group watched the ball shake twice.

However, before it could be caught, Glutton broke out of the ball; Erika was far enough away to not be devoured.

Erika panted.

“What do we do? Nothing we have hurts it much at all!” Jessie cried.

“Oh, right,” Janine said. “What’s Glutton after anyway? And where did Monomime go?”

“Glutton’s after Symbiont,” Blue responded. “Or at least after things that smell of it.”

“Like Monomime… and Lorelei!” Janine realized. “That means-”

“No time for this!” Lance said. “We’ve gotta do something!”

-NONSTOP DEBATE: START-

Glutton’s arm glowed, and it brought it down in a Hammer Arm, cracking the pavement. Janine barely managed to dodge. 

“Xatu, do another Confuse Ray!” Will said. “Follow it up with an Air Slash!”

Xatu obliged, and Glutton started stumbling around, before flinching when the air blade hit its face. 

“What do we do now?” Jessie asked. “It clearly isn’t weak enough to capture!”

“We need to warn Father!” Janine said. 

“It’ll recover before long!” Will cried. “Xatu, attack!”

Xatu launched more Air Slashes at the staggering beast, but before long the beast shook itself out of confusion.

“Oh no…” Jessie said as the group beat a hasty retreat. All except Janine, who dashed off into an alley. 

“Where are you going?” Blue yelled at her. However, she didn’t respond, already in the alley.

“We’re out of options!” Will said.

“Are you sure about that?” came a familiar voice. “Honchkrow, use Wing Attack!”

A Honchkrow, Ariana on her back, came swooping in with a glowing wing. It struck Glutton’s face, destabilizing it, before flying up. “I’m gonna provide as much air support as I can!”

“Ariana!” Will said. “You- what about the others?”

“They told me not to come, but I did anyway,” she said. “Now, are you gonna catch this thing?”

Glutton struggled, lying on its back. 

“R-right!” Erika said. “Beast Ball, go!”

-COUNTER: ERIKA-

-BREAK-

The Beast Ball flew at Glutton, engulfing it. The ball shook once… twice… thrice… but it burst open.

“Run!” Ariana cried, and the group made a break for it. Monomime came up. 

“What’s going on?”

“Only Koga has a Beast Ball,” Will said. “Every other one is broken.”

“Wait… why isn’t Glutton advancing?” Blue asked.

Janine dashed into the alleyway. “Father!” she hurriedly said. “Glutton’s after things that smell of Symbiont!”

“What?” Koga asked.

Lorelei smirked. “Yep. Including me. Keeping me here… well, I’d say the two of you are just about done for!”

“We need to go!” Janine said. “C’mon, I’ll help you move her!” She and Koga began forcing Lorelei out of the alley, but it was too late. They saw Glutton taking up the entire alley. 

Janine paled. “Uh-oh…”

“None of us will get out of here alive,” Lorelei said. “You could have lived if you weren’t so intent on HOLDING ME DOWN!”

“Father…” Janine trembled, looking at the horrifying beast devouring the buildings on either side, as it was too wide to fit in by itself. “Is this the end?”

“For one of us, maybe,” he said. “Both of us… well, we’re ninjas. If we can’t escape this… what kind of ninjas are we?”

Janine nodded, trembling. “Father, what are you going to do?”

“Come, Janine,” he said, climbing up onto a windowsill. She jumped up as well. 

“Now, jump as high as you can into the air, got it?” he instructed. 

“Just like… this is like when you trained me…” she jumped, however, and she felt something else push her upwards from below: her father’s body. He had jumped as well. She instantly knew what to do, and pushed off of him, grabbing a fire escape.

“Father! I’ll pull you up!” she said.

Koga shook his head from below. “No way. You’d just fall right off… that, or Lorelei would sabotage us. Run, Janine. Run back to the others. There’s no way I’m getting out of this.”

“But, Father-” 

“Go,” Koga said, and Janine obliged. The last view she had of her father was seeing him face Glutton, having already accepted his fate.

“Well, that was… heartwarming, but counterproductive,” Lorelei said. “You only delayed her demise.”

“On the contrary,” Koga said. “Are you aware that you’ll die now, too?”

The reality set in. “Wait a moment. MONOMIME! HELP!” But no help came.

Lorelei was freaking out, looking at the oncoming beast. “NO! NO! THE PERFECT PLAN! IT WAS ALL PERFECT! IT WASN’T SUPPOSED TO GO THIS WAY! I SET IT ALL UP! I GOT YOU ALL OUT OF THE WAY, PREVENTED YOU FROM STOPPING THE INCURSION!”

“What was it you said…?” Koga wondered. “If I hadn’t held onto you, I’d live? Well, if you hadn’t started the game, maybe you would have.” 

The pair was backed up against the wall. “BUT- NO! THIS CAN’T BE HOW IT ENDS!” Lorelei screeched, even as she was taken by one of Glutton’s mandibles, her glasses falling off. “I WAS SUPPOSED TO WIN! IT WAS ALL GOING ACCORDING TO PLAN! THIS CAN’T BE THE END!” However, it was the end, as Glutton stuffed her inside its huge mouth. 

Koga sighed, before rolling something under Glutton’s legs. Luckily, the beast didn’t notice, as it was too preoccupied with devouring Lorelei. He knew it was coming, but that didn’t stop the mandible from hurting him as he was lifted high into the air.

“Farewell, Janine…” he said. “Looks like… I managed to save you… and all of us, in the end.” Those were his last words, however, as he, too was stuffed inside the beast’s colossal mouth. It closed it, chewed, and swallowed, and nothing was left of either Koga or Lorelei.

Janine leapt off the roof, even as the group didn’t go closer. Her face was stained with tears.

“Janine…?” Blue wondered. 

“He’s- dead,” she choked out. “Lorelei too- there’s no escape from that alley.”

“Lorelei’s… dead?” Monomime asked. 

The whole group fell silent. Glutton, however, turned around, heading for the group.

Everyone scattered. One person, however, ran towards Glutton. 

“Monomime!” Blue called.

The group looked on from afar as Monomime faced down the terrifying beast. “I- no. I won’t let you kill anyone else! You killed one of the most important people to me… I won’t let you go any further!” 

Glutton was unamused, its massive mandibles picking up the small Pokemon. “Let me down!” Monomime said. “Pound!”

The weak attack, however, did nothing. The mandible brought Monomime closer to its mouth… 

“Get… OFF ME!” Monomime yelled, releasing his Dazzling Gleam attack that he had been charging for over a week. The flash of light grew larger, quickly engulfing everything in the vicinity.

For the first time anyone had ever heard, Glutton bellowed in pain. 

Monomime flew from his grasp, landing on the ground. He looked around. Only Will was still standing, even if a bit wobbly; everyone else was either flat on the ground or knocked out. Even Glutton was barely conscious.

Monomime frantically looked around for an opportunity. His eyes rested on the item Koga had rolled out of the alley… the empty Beast Ball. He dashed over to it, picked it up, and threw it. It engulfed the Ultra Beast, falling to the ground.

It shook once…

Twice…

Thrice…

…and then it clicked, and everything was silent.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're not done yet, folks; epilogue coming soon to finish off this story.


	26. Chapter 26

Blue awoke to someone standing over him. “Urgh… what happened?”

“You’re finally awake!” Will said. “Everyone but me and Monomime got knocked out in the attack. My mask protected me from the brunt of it, thankfully.”

Blue rose to his feet, a bit unsteadily. He looked around. The unconscious forms of everyone else were scattered around the area. All except…

“Where’s Xatu?” he asked.

Will smiled. “While you were out, me and the others headed down there and turned off all of the fields… Xatu’s resting in her Poke Ball.”

“The others…?” Blue wondered.

“Oh, they should be back soon,” Will said. “They were just looking around for anything we missed… like the dead people’s Pokemon.”

“So… is the game… really over?” Blue asked.

Will nodded. “Lorelei and Bruno are both dead, and Monomime doesn’t want to continue the game.”

“So…” Blue said. “We did it. We survived.”

Will nodded. “Well… only six of the nineteen participants lived.”

Blue sighed. “Yeah… I only hope they can rest in peace, wherever they are.”

“Except Lorelei,” Will said. 

Blue chuckled. “Except her.”

“We’re back!” came a voice. Blue and Will turned to see Karen, Archer, and Monomime coming back, Monomime levitating a sack.

“Oh, Blue, honey, good to see you up and at it,” Karen said. 

“Good to see you, Karen,” Blue responded. “What’s… that thing?”

“Oh, this?” Monomime said. “It holds all the dead people’s Poke Balls… we didn’t exactly know what to do with them.”

“All… except two,” Archer said. He held out two Beast Balls. “Symbiont and Glutton.”

“Glutton’s mine,” Monomime said. “I caught it. These jerks won’t give it to me!”

“Pokemon can’t be trainers, and I don’t trust you,” Archer said. “You did trap lots of people in the city and make them kill each other.”

Blue thought. “Wait a moment… weren't you- oh, right, Petrel.”

Archer nodded, smirking. “Yep. Wasn’t that hard, to be honest.”

“Anyway,” Karen said. “We’re going to camp out here until everyone’s up. Then… we’re going to head for Indigo Plateau.”

Blue nodded. “Sounds good.”

The group turned around when they heard some groaning. “Ugh… was I hit by a Dragon Rush or something?” Lance complained, standing up. 

“Uh… a Dazzling Gleam,” Blue said. “A really, really strong Dazzling Gleam.”

“…oh,” Lance said. “Well… is it over?”

Will nodded. “We can leave.”

Lance sighed. “I… it feels almost unreal, you know?”

Blue nodded. “Yeah…”

“Well…” Will said. “…yeah. I was only in the game for a short amount of time… I can’t imagine what it was like for you all.”

“Once we get out of here…” Lance said. “I think… is Clair still around?”

Will nodded. “Yes. She and the other members of your clan made Blackthorn into possibly the safest place in Johto and Kanto. Right now, though, she’s filling in for Karen at Indigo Plateau.”

“I think…” Lance said. “I think I want to go see her. Then… well, shouldn’t we go do something about the Unovans?”

“Unovans?” Archer asked. “What about them?”

“Lorelei had a partner,” Blue said. “Supposedly, whoever they are… they’re running a game in Unova. One like this.”

“It’s… happening now,” Monomime said. “The love of my life is in my role, and Lorelei’s partner is in hers.”

“We need to go stop it!” Lance said. 

“How are you going to get to Unova, though?” Karen asked. “It’s quite far away…” 

“Boat, plane… whatever we have a pilot for,” Lance responded.

“Ugh… I feel like I ran face-first into a wall…”

“Ariana!” Archer said, heading over. He helped up the red-haired woman.

“Wasn’t I… on Honchkrow?” she asked.

“Monomime’s attack KOed both of you,” Will said. “You’re lucky you weren’t far up.”

“Well… does that mean we did it?” Ariana asked.

“Yep,” Blue said. 

Ariana fist-pumped. “Yes! Where’s Petrel?”

“Lorelei… stabbed him,” Blue said, slowly.

“…oh…” Ariana said, her energy gone.

“If I may ask,” Archer began, “Ariana, what were you thinking? You could’ve gotten yourself killed!”

“I- I had to do something, you know?” she said. “You wouldn’t let me go in and help, so I went anyway! More people could’ve died if I hadn’t gone in!”

“Fair enough,” Archer said. “However… you should be more careful in the future.”

“Yeah, yeah, I get it,” Ariana responded, waving Archer off. “I’m glad you all managed to deal with it, though.”

Monomime nodded. “It was mostly me!”

“Not you,” Ariana said. “Everyone else.”

“Oww…” Erika was the next one up, as Blue helped her to her feet.

“It’s- we’re finally out of here, right?” Erika asked.

Blue nodded. “Yep.”

“I-” Erika looked worried. “Could we have saved everyone else? Nobody deserved to die!”

“I doubt it…” Lance said, looking upset. “Lorelei wouldn’t have allowed nobody to die there.”

Erika sighed. “Yeah…”

“What are your plans after this?” Blue asked.

“Well…” Erika said. “If- if any of my family or close friends are still alive… I think I’d like to stay with them for a while… maybe make perfume again. That sounds… nice.”

Blue nodded. “Yeah… good luck with that.”

Erika nodded. “I think- I think I’ve had enough of… this. All of this.”

“I don’t blame you,” Karen responded.

“Aagh…” Jessie moaned as she rose to her feet.

“Jessie!” Ariana said. 

“We won, right?” Jessie asked.

Archer nodded. “Yes.”

“That was a long time coming!” Jessie said. “I only wish it could have come sooner…”

“Mm-hmm,” Lance nodded.

“Oh, right…” Jessie said, taking a folded-up piece of paper out of her pocket. She handed it to Archer. “This is- the boss’s last words. You might want to… read them. You and Ariana both.”

Archer nodded, and Ariana came over to read over his shoulder. The pair read the whole letter, and by the end, Ariana was shaking.

“So… I’m the new boss, now?” Archer said. “I… wish it was under better circumstances, but I will not back down. Ariana, are you with me?”

She nodded. “I- yes, of course I am. But… I just worry that I’m not capable-”

“The old boss believed in you,” Jessie pointed out. 

Ariana nodded. “…yeah.”

“With us as Team Rainbow Rocket’s three executives… I’m sure we can do well. All of us,” Jessie responded.

“Rainbow Rocket…?” Lance asked. “What’s the Rainbow mean?”

“Classified,” Archer answered. 

“Okay…” Blue said, dubiously. “That’s… suspicious…”

“Actually…” Jessie said. “I have a proposition for you all, but I need to run it by Archer first. Once we have some privacy, that is.”

Archer nodded. “Come this way, then.” He lead Jessie away from the group.

“I wonder when Janine will wake up,” Blue said. “She’s the last one.”

“Uh…” Will looked worried. “Where… did she go?”

“She must have snuck off while we were talking,” Karen said. 

“We should probably go find her…” Erika pointed out.

The group looked around. “Yeah,” Lance said. “Dragonite!” He threw his Poke Ball, and out emerged the massive dragon, who was asleep. He woke up and looked around, before wrapping Lance in a big bear hug. 

“Aw, I missed you too, buddy…” Lance said. “Listen. We need to find Janine; she’s probably somewhere around here.”

Dragonite nodded. Lance climbed aboard.

“Oh,” he said, “I have extra Flying Pokemon if any of you lack them.”

“Mine’s… unconscious,” Will said. 

“Mine too,” Ariana pointed out. “We can search on the ground, though. I couldn’t bear to take your Pokemon from you after you were just reunited.”

Karen called out Honchkrow. “I’ll help you search in the air!”

“I think I’ll stay on the ground,” Monomime said.

Erika thought. “Uhh… my only Flying Pokemon can’t carry me for long periods because I have to hang from it… I think I’ll stay on the ground. Get reunited with my team while I search.”

“Pidgeot!” Blue called out. The bird looked overjoyed to see Blue, and tried to land on his shoulder.

“Stop!” Blue said. “You know you’re too big to do that anymore, right?”

Pidgeot cawed, annoyed, before landing on the ground.

“Right,” Blue said, “we need to find Janine. Let’s go!”

With that, Karen, Blue, and Lance took off into the air, and the others remained on the ground to search.

After a while, the trio landed back down, and the others, including Archer and Jessie, came back.

“Ariana filled us in,” Jessie said. “Did anyone see her?”

“No…” Blue responded. 

“She is a ninja,” Lance pointed out. “If she wanted to be seen, we probably would have seen her.”

“So, what? Do we go on without her?” Karen asked.

“I… don’t see any other option,” Lance said. “I hope that, wherever she is, she doesn’t do anything too rash…”

“She’s grieving…” Will pointed out. “Give her time. I’m sure she’ll show up.”

“In the meantime…” Jessie said. “Before we head out, I have an announcement and a proposal. Team Rainbow Rocket… we’re changing our mission. Instead of our previous goals… we are going to prioritize stopping the Incursion and repairing the damage done.”

The non-Rocketeers present looked at each other.

“Why…?” Lance asked. “No offense, but… that’s kind of contrary to your goals.”

“Not particularly,” Archer said. “Sure, we want control. We can’t have that so long as the Incursion is still going on and the world is damaged.”

Ariana smirked. “So… yeah, that’s our new goal.”

“And!” Jessie said. “We would like to formally invite all of you, except Monomime, to join us to help accomplish the goal. It’s your goal as well, and it’ll take a while; you in?”

“Can we quit later?” Blue asked.

Archer nodded. “Of course.”

Blue thought. “Then… I’m in. I’ll join you all.”

“How amusing,” Karen said. “Getting us on your side like that… I’m in.”

Erika thought. “Um… I’d like to try and live a quiet life. I’ll join, but only… I’ll help only in emergencies.”

Archer nodded. “I understand.”

Will thought. “No harm in it, I suppose. Your intentions seem good, even if your motivations are less so.”

Lance sighed. “Everyone else joined, huh? Well, I’ll join too. Just know that, after we fix the world… I won’t help you gain control.”

“That was inevitable,” Ariana said. “Really, we’re glad to have you at all.”

Monomime grumbled. “You didn’t even want me…”

“Of course we didn’t,” Archer said. “You are part of the reason behind this whole game.”

Monomime faltered. “Yeah, I suppose…”

“Well, should we get on the fixing?” Will said. “The world’s changed since the four of you saw it last…” he trailed off.

Lance, Erika, Jessie, and Blue, the four survivors who had been there from the very start, looked to each other.

“Yes, let’s,” Lance said. 

“Good luck!” Erika cheered.

“Right,” Jessie said.

“The world’s changed…” Blue said. “But, no matter what happens… no matter how it breaks… we can still fix it. Let’s go, everyone. Let’s go return to the world we were taken from, and fix it!”

THE END

…?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This took almost a year for me to write...   
> Thank you to all of you for reading, commenting, and predicting on this crazy ride!  
> I'll see you all in Unova...


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